The CW, home to Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and many other DC Comics adaptations, is developing a series centered on Batwoman, with a possible 2019 debut should it get picked up.
The news comes after the network revealed in May that Batwoman would appear in the annual Arrowverse crossover event between four of The CW's DC shows: The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl.
Batwoman In Development At The CW
The standalone series will follow Kate Kane, armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, as Variety reports. She soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an openly gay and highly skilled street fighter who's made it her mission to expunge the failing city's crooks. She is, however, not like most superheroes. Kane must first overcome her personal demons before she can become Gotham's beacon of hope.
The Arrowverse has previously mentioned Bruce Wayne and Wayne Tech, teasing a Batman connection. Despite countless live-action interpretations of her male counterpart, this will be Batwoman's first-ever live-action appearance.
Who Is Kate Kane?
A Batwoman character was present as early as the 1950s, but the current interpretation, starring Kane, was introduced in the DC 52 series. Unlike the Silver Age Batwoman, who was romantically linked with Batman, Kane is, as mentioned, a lesbian, and was a former army cadet booted under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Out of the army, she sought a new way to serve justice and found her calling as a masked vigilante, as Polygon notes.
Batwoman isn't the first LGBTQ character in the Batman comics, but she has set important inroads by being the first openly gay character and proposing to her girlfriend, detective Maggie Sawyer, in 2013. Thus far, Batwoman is one of the most recognized queer characters in comics.
The Vampire Diaries scribe Caroline Dries will serve as the writer and executive producer of the show. Dries is no stranger to superhero stories, having worked as a writer on the much-beloved Smallville, which centered on Clark Kent before he eventually became Superman.
Suppose the show gets picked up, which Variety predicts is likely to happen, it will be Greg Berlanti's seventh show on the network, thus making him the producer with the most live-action shows currently on air. Berlanti is an incredibly busy man. In addition to the aforementioned DC Comics shows, he also produces Black Lightning, Riverdale, and the upcoming high school football drama All American. Elsewhere, he also has producing credit on a number of forthcoming dramas, including Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, God Friended Me, and The Red Line.
