Ruby Rose is Batwoman. The CW has officially cast the Orange is the New Black actress as their latest caped hero. The DC Comics character is set to make her debut during this year's Arrowverse crossover event, which was announced in May. Now, the network has found their star and it's a pretty big get, considering that Ruby Rose is an actress who is very much on the rise right now. Not to mention quite popular, which certainly doesn't hurt anything from The CW's point of view. While the Batwoman series hasn't officially been given the green light just yet, this bodes very well for that happening in the near future.
Greg Berlanti, who is behind the other DC shows on The CW, as well as Riverdale and the DC shows heading to the upcoming DC Universe streaming service, is currently developing the Batwoman TV series with Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries). The series is being scripted now and if things go well, there are reports that it could be filming in spring 2019, which means it could be ready for a fall 2019 debut. The news of Ruby Rose's casting was confirmed by the official Arrow Twitter account, which posted an image of the actress alongside the titular hero she's set to play.
"Ruby Rose is Batwoman, coming to The CW's crossover event this December!"
This is a logical move for both Ruby Rose and The CW. Rose is, herself, a lesbian who identifies as genderfluid. Batwoman will be the first outwardly LGBTQ superhero, male or female, on a comic book TV show, which makes it pretty groundbreaking. The character of Kate Kane was actually the first ever lesbian superhero to get her own title in the pages of DC Comics in 2006. Batwoman was originally introduced by DC in 1956 as Kathy Kane, a love interest for Batman.
Batwoman will be armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind. The show, should it go to series, will take place in Gotham City and see the hero patrolling the streets. In addition to being an out lesbian, Kate Kane is a highly trained street fighter who must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be the city's symbol of hope. As for Ruby Rose, she got her big break on Netflix's Orange is the New Black and has since starred in movies like xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and John Wick: Chapter 2. She's set to star alongside Jason Statham in this weekend's giant shark flick The Meg.
The CW has yet to set a premiere date for this year's Arrowverse crossover event but it's coming our way in December. It was set to be a high-profile event before, but now it's truly going to be a big deal. It's going to be the first ever appearance of Batwoman in live-action and all signs point to it being a springboard for the character to get her own series in the near future. You can check out the image shared by the Arrow Twitter account for yourself below.