Batwoman in the Media: Send the Bat Signal

[Trini]

There's a big crowd scene in the trailer, was that filmed pre-Covid?

Edited December 10, 2020 by Trini

[cambridgeguy]

So let's see, Kate Kane vanishing is front page news.  Various people also know that Batwoman has disappeared.  A quick internet search will also show that Kate moved back to Gotham right around the time Batwoman made her debut.  You know what this means, right?

Kate Kane is Batwoman's biggest fan and went off to grieve because Batwoman vanished.  It must run in the family since Bruce Wayne went away when Batman left.  Someone should really recommend a good grief counselor to those two.

[tennisgurl]

So she just found the Batwoman outfit laying around and...that makes her Batwoman now? I am just so not sure about the direction the show seems to be going in with new Batwoman, nothing here makes me think that having a new original character was a better plan than recasting Kate or doing some sci fi thing about her getting a face change or something, and that trailer isnt selling me on this new character. The costume looks better at least, and I really do like the actress, but I still don't know how the show is going to easily substitute this new Batwoman for Kate. So Kate was Batman's cousin, who left his legacy to her, and she had personal connections to the main villain, the head of the security force trying to stop her and his right hand woman, the members of her superhero squad, and the city itself, while this new character...found a Batwoman outfit in a trashcan and decided to put it on? Kind of losing those personal stakes that made so many of the first seasons best moments work of she is just some random person who decided to be Batwoman because she found the costume. That could maybe work for another superhero from another show, legacy characters are common in comics of course, but this show is so built around Kate specifically, I still am not seeing how this will have anything close to the emotional impact those relationships had last season. The best thing the show had going last season were Kates complicated relationships with the people in her lives, both as Kate and as Batwoman, so sticking a new person with no connection to them just wont have the same punch. 

The "I'm powerful now" line is slightly less silly than the "fit for a woman" thing from the first season trailer, but it seemed less badass and more like someone really pumped that they nailed their cosplay outfit before entering a con. 

So I guess they decided not to straight up kill Kate offscreen, which I am happy about at least, but she is apparently missing and since Ruby wont be back anytime soon, I guess she will be missing for quite some time. Maybe she writes everyone letters saying she ran off with Bruce so they can angst over killing a guy and that they should accept this new person as Batwoman at the end of the first episode? 

[Delphi]

Agreed.   The actress isn't terrible and I wish her nothing but the best,  but this isn't the show I signed up for.   I have the first season on DVD,  so I'm going to treat this as a one season show that had some missteps but was ultimately fun to watch, I've no intention on continuing down this rabbit hole.

[Trini]

'2020 in Review: Which TV Character Had the Most Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year?'

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Batwoman's Kate

Became the target of tabloid gossip when photographed in a misleading embrace with a male cop. Welcomed a kinder version of her sister Beth into her life… only for the doppelganger to get shot dead — and just as Kate was letting the other, now angrier Beth die! Learned that sometime-hookup Reagan was a mole for Magpie. Violated her code by killing Mouse’s father. Barely escaped a Crows firing squad that had been arranged by her dad, as Commander Kane’s disdain for Batwoman escalated. Oh, and her future doesn’t look too bright, either.

 

[Trini]

New poster!

 

 

I still wish they had put more red in the wig.

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WB billboard with all the CW/DC shows:

 

[driver18]

On 12/12/2020 at 4:43 PM, tennisgurl said:

So she just found the Batwoman outfit laying around and...that makes her Batwoman now? I am just so not sure about the direction the show seems to be going in with new Batwoman, nothing here makes me think that having a new original character was a better plan than recasting Kate or doing some sci fi thing about her getting a face change or something, and that trailer isnt selling me on this new character.

 

I think deciding how the show is going to play out based off of a few lines and a one-minute trailer isn't really fair.

I re-iterate a point I've made a few times. Caroline Dries is a very gifted writer and showrunner. She is one of the best writers I've had the pleasure of watching her work. She has a way of creating characters, plots and arcs and working them together beautifully... as she did last season. I genuinely believe that those viewers who liked the first season should wait to see what Dries has up her sleeve. She has not let me down yet. If her past work is indicative of what we have to come, we have nothing to worry about. If she truly believed that recasting Kate would have been a better move, she would have done it. Instead, she believed that stronger stories would come out of a new character. She knows what she is doing.

[Trini]

Javicia and the WB billboard! https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWHE7dDiPw/

ETA:

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Trini

[Trini]

New poster:

 

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Javicia's (photoshopped) face on the latest poster:

Edited January 5, 2021 by Trini

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Javicia Leslie to be one of the presenters at the Critic's Choice Super Awards this Sunday:

http://criticschoice.com/critics-choice-super-awards/

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Cast promo:

 

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Interview with Javicia at Variety:

excerpt:

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How does her approach to heroism shake up the team dynamic?

There’s going to be the struggle of the team needing to convince her that they’re trustworthy and her being able to convince the team that she’s trustworthy. At the end of the day, the team’s main goal is finding Kate, while her main goal is saving people that need to be saved. And so, there’s that disconnect throughout at least the first-half of the season.

Similar to how the characters have to feel each other out on-screen to find their working dynamic with Ryan in the bat suit, what did you have to do to find the bond and trust with your new co-stars off-screen?

We work so much that it innately started to happen. And not only do we work so much but we’re with each other in Vancouver in our own little bubble and all we have is each other, so there were no outside distractions when we were getting to know each other. We’re on set every single day for 12-plus hours, so after awhile we just started to form those bonds, and I really enjoy all of the cast; we have a good time.

 

[Trini]

AP interview with Javicia Leslie: https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-ruby-rose-f18cddfc0181ba165d89bfbf69202689

excerpt:

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AP: So this is something you manifested?

Leslie: I feel like everything I’m living right now, I’ve spoken into existence. From the very beginning to the detail. Even with Batwoman, I did an interview in May and I was asked what role I wanted to do next, and I said, “I want to play a superhero.” ... The following month, I got the audition. I didn’t even know they were looking to cast a new Batwoman. So, I truly believe in manifestation.

AP: What does being DC’s first Black female lead superhero mean to you?

Leslie: You know, I always just remind myself that my purpose isn’t for me. My purpose is to empower other people. God brought me here for a reason. He put me in this position for a reason. With that, it’s nothing to fear because I know this will empower someone to see a Black female superhero. You don’t get to see it often. It’s so epic. I grew up on Batman and Catwoman and the Joker and Penguin. Now, to see blackness in that, I think it’s very inclusive. Very empowering.

She also talks a bit about her character, Ryan Wilder, and her motivations.

[Primal Slayer]

Nothing against Javicia but it is annoying how the women over at Black Lightning are constantly ignored. They may not be in the title but they are just as important as BL and Thunder was the first lesbian Superhero for the network.

[Trini]

LA Times article with quotes from Javicia and showrunner, Caroline Dries: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-01-10/javicia-leslie-batwoman-cw-ruby-rose

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Leslie was drawn to “Batwoman’s” Ryan, a character created for the show, because of her flaws, which made her “very human.”

“I think that there’s almost this idea that superheroes are supposed to be perfect,” Leslie says. “They all have something in their past that they struggle with, but you see them as these bright lights. Ryan, she was more impacted by the things that happened in her life, so she carries that weight, and I think that that’s something that I connected with her.”

Dries says she considered options such as recasting Kate Kane or finding an existing DC character who could shift into the Batwoman role before choosing to move forward with an original character.

“I think some TV shows can get away with [recasting], but for us, it felt a little wonky,” Dries says. “So I decided, let’s continue the storyline but let’s introduce this new character who takes on the mantle of Batwoman, and maintain Kate Kane’s legacy on the show and create a mystery around where she went and lean into the challenge.”

It was after casting Leslie that certain elements of the character’s backstory were changed. For example, early descriptions of the character mentioned Ryan’s past as a drug runner.

“Once we cast Javicia I wanted to restructure some of the stuff in her past to make sure we’re telling a really authentic and positive story,” Dries says. “Putting something good out there that doesn’t feel trope-y or like something we’ve seen before.”

 

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[Trini]

Gotta disagree with this bit:

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“I think some TV shows can get away with [recasting], but for us, it felt a little wonky,” Dries says. “So I decided, let’s continue the storyline but let’s introduce this new character who takes on the mantle of Batwoman, and maintain Kate Kane’s legacy on the show and create a mystery around where she went and lean into the challenge.”

If they didn't want to recast, then they didn't want to recast; but out of all the shows, this was probably the best one to replace the lead actor and have it make sense in the narrative. And even if they didn't make it a plot point, it would simpler for them since the show had only gone one season with Ruby Rose.

[Trini]

CBS Watch: Who's That Girl? Meet TV's New Batwoman, Javicia Leslie!

[Trini]

Javicia Leslie will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live this Thursday night: https://abc.com/shows/jimmy-kimmel-live/news/schedule/jkl-schedule-for-01112021

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Interview with Caroline Dries at EW: https://ew.com/tv/batwoman-season-2-preview-caroline-dries-interview/

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Batwoman was entirely built around Kate Kane — like she's the one who ties almost everyone together. How did you go about incorporating Ryan into this web of characters?

Yeah, that is the biggest challenge. We always consider Batwoman a family drama, and we lost a core family member. We had two things happening: one is our ancillary characters were starting to develop their own lives outside of Kate, which was helpful to us. But also we didn't want to lose Kate from the show. So while the person of Kate who's walking around and existing as a 3D human being on the show doesn't exist when we start the season, her essence exists very much on the show. I would still consider her very much a character on the show. So we continue to build around that, big time.

The other thing is yeah, it was really hard to figure out how Ryan fits into this world, but we found a way to integrate her to have a POV on the Crows, and for the Crows to have a POV on her, specifically Sophie [Meagan Tandy]. She has, we'll see, a personal connection to Alice, and that's something that plays out in a big way in season 2. Then obviously, the Bat-Team has their own dynamic and the big conflict in the beginning of the season is, "How much are we willing to open our hearts to this new character? Does opening our hearts to her mean we're okay with saying good-bye to Kate?" We decided to make that one of the central core conflicts among the Bat-Team. But I think Ryan very naturally fit into the Bat-Team, so that dynamic slowly builds over the season into this family dynamic that makes Ryan feel like she's always belonged.

 

[Trini]

Featurette with Nicole Kang:

 

[Trini]

This was an easy guess to make, but now we have a few quotes that confirm that the previously planned Batwoman/Superman & Lois crossover is not happening. Javicia and Dries would still like to crossover with Black Lighting and Supergirl if it was possible.

[Trini]

Such a difference in publicity between Javicia and Ruby;

Batwoman Beyond: Javicia Leslie is Gotham City's future

 

https://ew.com/tv/batwoman-digital-cover-shoot-portraits/

 

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Featurette with Javicia Leslie:

 

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A few more interviews:

https://madamenoire.com/1210164/black-batwoman/

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Considering current events, it’s very striking to see a Black woman don the Batwoman suit. How has playing a superhero on-screen affected you personally?

How I am outside of the screen is, to me, my advocacy. It’s to me, my protest. The things that I talk about, the things that I do, the stuff that I involve myself in. When I’m talking to people, even when I’m just talking to my friends or to my community, helping our people realize we don’t have to wait for other people to give us an opportunity, we can create our own opportunity. There are so many Black women out here creating opportunities for our people. You have your Ava DuVernays, your Mara Brock Akils who are out here creating projects. And then you have your civil activists like Stacey Abrams. You have our now VP. Because of what they’re doing on the outside, it’s allowing us to do so much more. The thing about creativity, the thing about television, everyone thinks that television depicts reality when it’s really the opposite: reality depicts what you see on TV. So, reality mirrors what they think is popular, and what they think is popular is what you see on TV. If we always see the same look on TV, blonde hair, blue eyes, that’s what the world thinks is wanted, what is needed and what should lead our world, lead our country. But when we start to diversify our television, our movies, our entertainment, our music, it then reminds people that there are other people out here, too. I think it’s all connected. So yeah, I do my job, and it airs, but it’s bigger than that. It’s before I put the suit on. It’s what I’m doing day to day.

 

https://www.insider.com/batwoman-star-javicia-leslie-interview-2021-1

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Insider: Ryan Wilder isn't based on any iteration of Batwoman. She's an original character. What conversations did you have with showrunner Caroline Dries and executive producer Greg Berlanti in discovering who Ryan is and her backstory? Did you help at all in shaping the character?

Javicia Leslie: Well, of course Caroline and the writer's room created Ryan even before I came into the picture. But, as far as the development, I think it's been very collaborative. The thing about the process that we're going through is that the writers give me the ingredients such as the script, but then I'm the one who sits and creates the world through my imagination.

That's what really helps to bring it alive as well along with the director, the crew, and the cast. It's definitely a very collaborative effort in bringing Ryan's story to life. I love that this is an original character. The thing about anything that's new, it's going to take a lot for anyone to get adjusted to it, but then you're going to look back years later and you'll be a favorite character.

On the season two premiere, after the title sequence, your name is the first thing people see. What was your reaction when you saw your name is the first one to pop up on screen right after the "Batwoman" logo?

Freaking cool, man. When I saw it for the first time, I was just like, "Wow." You know? Wow. This is... I'm speechless and this is life changing.

 

https://www.insider.com/batwoman-javicia-leslie-flash-grant-gustin-2021-1

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"I said to him [Grant Gustin], 'Man, you didn't tell me how uncomfortable that cowl is going to be,'" Leslie said.

"Definitely having something so heavy on my face all day is probably the most uncomfortable part, a little more uncomfortable than the suit," she continued, "which is why I really love when Ryan gets to just wear the suit without the cowl."

...

"When I put [the cowl] on that's when I really feel like a superhero," Leslie said. "You have to take the weight of what it is to wear something that's this uncomfortable, but understanding the reason why you're doing it, what it means, and what it represents."

 

[Trini]

Featurette about Sophie with Meagan Tandy:

 

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DC article introducing the new Batwoman: 'Reimagining Batwoman: Ryan Wilder Makes the Cowl Her Own'

And the DC page for the show, BTW: https://www.dccomics.com/tv/batwoman

[Trini]

A few interviews with Jacivia Leslie:

Coveteur.com:

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In preparing for the role, Leslie focused more on the world that Ryan Wilder would be inhabiting than just the character per se. “If I had any influence, it would be to understand more of the world of Gotham. I watched as much Gotham-related movies and TV shows as I could.”

A real-life badass, Leslie has also taken on much of the stunt work for Batwoman herself. “I was already very physical,” she shares. “I had already practiced Muay Thai, and it wasn’t outside of what I normally did. When I sat down with our stunt team, we basically were able to create an arsenal of moves I already knew.”

Collider.com:

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What has been the fun for you, in having a team of actors that are there for you as well?

LESLIE: It’s so much fun. I feel so supported, having the cast that I have. They’re so insanely talented. You’re talking about a superhero show, so we’re just having fun. We’re playing. Maybe sometimes we’re playing too much. Everybody needs a little bit of that lightness and joy, and we definitely bring that to the table, every single time.

How challenging will it be for Ryan to keep Batwoman a secret? Does she have trouble trying to keep it a secret, or does it become important to her?

LESLIE: She doesn’t really have friends and family, so for her, it’s not that difficult. But there are going to be times where she’s going to have to contemplate revealing herself for the bigger and better picture. You’ll see what happens.

Will we get to see much of a romantic life for her?

LESLIE: Yeah, you will. You’ll see some romance, definitely. There’s some romance that’s going to happen very naturally, based off of her past, even before she was Batwoman.

Complex.com:

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“When we were first coming to the table, we looked at a lot of fan art and our show creator, Caroline Dries, sent me this fan art and she's like, ‘What do you think of this?’ And there was a Black Batwoman with this big beautiful Afro and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I would love this,'” Leslie remembers. “It was important for us to represent being a Black woman as a Batwoman, and so the first wig was that straight red wig, which was beautiful because it represents Kate Kane’s Batwoman, but I think in my version of Batwoman, the big beautiful curly wig, is such a representation of a powerful Black woman. It reminds me of, back in the day, when Foxy Brown had her big Afro.”

 

[Trini]

  At EW: 'Batwoman boss and stars break down the season 2 premiere's biggest moments'  <-- with video.

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Featurette with Camrus Johnson about Luke:

 

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Rachel Skarsten/Alice featurette:

 

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Batwoman panel at SCAD's ATVFest, February 6: https://www.atvfest.com/2021/screening/batwoman

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At TVLine: Performer of the Week: Javicia Leslie

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THE PERFORMER | Javicia Leslie

THE SHOW | Batwoman 

THE EPISODE | “Whatever Happened to Kate Kane?” (Jan. 17, 2021)

THE PERFORMANCE | There’s been a lot of fanfare around Leslie, who makes history as the first Black woman to portray Batwoman on screen. She had the difficult task of carrying that responsibility while introducing an original character in a show brimming with already established characters and with a full season under its belt. Leslie handled that immense pressure like a pro and, in her stellar debut, delivered a wholly likeable hero worthy of continuing Batman’s legacy.

Simply put, Leslie’s Ryan Wilder is breath of fresh air. She’s vulnerable, determined, a little goofy and empowering — even as she’s rattling off a page’s worth of sobering statistics. “I am the 327th baby of a Black woman who died during childbirth that year,” Ryan told Mary and Luke in one scene. Leslie shines as Batwoman because of her fierce commitment to the words given to her and her undeniable charisma which radiates across the screen.

The scene that really tipped Leslie over the edge this week came at the end of the episode when she literally beat the prosthetic face off the man who shot her. It was equally devastating and satisfying to watch Ryan, simmering with rage, deliver harsh blow after harsh blow. It never felt forced or over-the-top; you understood where she was coming from and you felt her pain in every millisecond of that scene.

In just under an hour, Leslie proved that she could do just about anything. Whether it’s tapping into the gut-wrenching agony of losing a loved one or the sheer wonderment of discovering a cool superhero suit, she made us believe every line and every emotion with remarkable ease. She might be just getting started but, in her first outing, Leslie did that.

 

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Interview at EW: 'Shivaani Ghai previews Safiyah and Alice's 'game of chess' on Coryana'

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Safiyah featurette:

 

[Primal Slayer]

Ratings didnt really improve any but at least they are holding steady.

[Trini]

14 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

Ratings didnt really improve any but at least they are holding steady.

It looks like it went up in viewers a bit; most likely because there was no football.

But speaking of football, next week is a re-run because of the Super Bowl.

[Trini]

'Batwoman stars, EP on Ryan's 'epic' new suit, Safiyah's big reveal'

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In a perfect example of 'ratings don't matter to CW' (just in case some people still don't get it), Batwoman has been renewed for Season 3!

[Jediknight]

21 minutes ago, Trini said:

In a perfect example of 'ratings don't matter to CW' (just in case some people still don't get it), Batwoman has been renewed for Season 3!

CW is more about streaming.

 

Also, COVID still running rampant and there being multiple variations.  It's easier to renew shows that already are in production with full cast and crew, than it is to start a new show and set everything up.

[Trini]

On 1/22/2021 at 5:44 PM, Trini said:

Batwoman panel at SCAD's ATVFest, February 6: https://www.atvfest.com/2021/screening/batwoman

This Saturday, Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m. (EST)

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Followed by the Rising Star Award presentation to Javicia Leslie.

Panelists:

Javicia Leslie, actor
Camrus Johnson, actor
Meagan Tandy, actor
Nicole Kang, actor
Rachel Skarsten, actor
Caroline Dries, showrunner, writer, and executive producer

 

[Primal Slayer]

On 2/3/2021 at 3:52 PM, Trini said:

In a perfect example of 'ratings don't matter to CW' (just in case some people still don't get it), Batwoman has been renewed for Season 3!

Not even having aired 1 episode matters to TheCW lol

[Trini]

SCAD aTVfest INTERVIEW: Javicia Leslie (video)

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Roundtable with the cast with The African American Film Critics Association, today:

 

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