The CW has released the first official trailer for Batwoman season 2, and it looks like it will be as much about what happened to Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) as it will be about Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) stepping up as Gotham City’s new protector.
The minute-long video reveals how members of the Bat Team are reacting to Kate’s sudden disappearance. Mary Hamilton (Nicole Kang) says “the city needs a [new] hero,” but Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) insists “Kate is Batwoman.” While Gotham is sure to become less safe without Kate patrolling the streets, her father, Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott), is more concerned about whether or not she is safe. “I don’t want to give up hope that Kate’s alive,” he says in the trailer.
Ryan, meanwhile, quickly starts to make her presence known in the city after finding and altering Kate’s Batwoman suit. With a killer attitude and a dashing version of the Batmobile, Ryan intrigues Alice. “I met the new girl [and] she’s going to be a handful,” remarks Kate’s twin sister with a cunning smile.
Watch the emotional and action-packed trailer below:
As previously reported, Ryan is nothing like Kate. According to the official description of the character, Ryan ― with no one in her life to keep her on track ― spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD, and masking her pain with bad habits. Though she’s goofy and likable, and the type of girl who would steal milk for an alley cat, she could also kill with her bare hands. In fact, Ryan is the most dangerous kind of fighter, as she’s highly skilled and wildly undisciplined at the same time. Living in her van with her plant, Ryan is an out lesbian, athletic, raw, passionate, fallible, and very much not a stereotypical All-American hero.
“Ryan’s journey starts from a place of ‘What can this Batsuit do for me?’” showrunner Caroline Dries said in a statement in October when The CW released the first-look photo of Ryan wearing her own superhero costume. “But it’s not long before she realizes the power of its symbol, and what it can do for everyone else in Gotham City. As Ryan embraces everything that makes her special, she adjusts the suit to fit her physically and figuratively. This meant creating a new body design and new cowl that was undeniably a statement that screamed ‘powerful.’”
As for fans who are worried about Kate’s fate in the series, Dries previously revealed that they have no plans to kill off the character. “I love Kate Kane — she’s the reason I wanted to do the show. We’ll never erase her,” Dries said back in June. “In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of season 2. I don’t want to give away any of our surprises, but to all our devoted fans, please know that LGBTQ+ justice is at the very core of what Batwoman is and we have no intention of abandoning that.”
While it’s unclear if Rose will reprise her role as Kate in season 2 after exiting the series after its freshman run, the actress couldn’t be happier with Leslie’s casting as the new Batwoman. “OMG!! This is amazing!! I am so glad Batwoman will be played by an amazing Black woman,” Rose wrote on Instagram last July. “I want to congratulate Javicia Leslie on taking over the bat cape. You are walking into an amazing cast and crew. I can’t wait to watch season 2 you are going to be amazing!!”
Batwoman season 2, which will also see the debut appearances of Leah Gibson as The Whisper and Alex Morf as Victor Zsasz, premieres on Sunday, January 17th at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.