Batwoman Executive Producers Talk Kate Kane's Groundbreaking Show

Ruby Rose may have had to miss San Diego Comic-Con, nevertheless Batwoman’s presence was still very much felt. The CW’s newest addition to the Arrowverse made a grand debut with a screening of the premiere episode followed by a panel with executive producers Sarah Schechter and Caroline Dries — and as fans have come to expect from SDCC, there was a lot to learn about the show.


Without spoiling any specifics of the opening episode, which officially premieres on the CW Sunday, October 6, Batwoman is set three years soon after Batman has vanished from Gotham City. The show will issue a good chunk of Kate Kane’s origin story from the very starting. Two major life events from deep in her past (pulled straight from the comics) will form the basis of her character, and those will be seen in flashback-form right in the pilot. The episode will also feature the initial time Kate Kane dons the Batwoman suit and saves the day in back of the mask — a moment which, might I add, garnered a solid round of cheers from the Ballroom 20 audience.


The episode also introduces the main villain of the opening season, who has a twist I am going to not name here, and Dries noted while in the panel that a lot of Kate’s journey over the course of the season will be “trying to redeem the humanity that she is aware is still indoor this monster.” (For major, major spoilers, Dries noted that they incorporated several specifics from the Elegy series.)


Later, Dries added that Tommy Elliot’s Hush will also appear as one of this season’s villains, and also several other unnamed, classic Batman foes, who come back inside the fold whenever they think that the man himself is back in firm. “Because you’ve seen so several different versions of those, we’re attempting to find a different angle into these villains so it’s not a character that you’ve saw a million times, or it is a character you’ve saw a million times, yet we’re doing it in a different way,” Dries said.


“The first season will give you a lot of fun surprises and adventures,” Schechter slyly added. Nevertheless, Dries later added, what will really shock people is as soon as we find out what happened to the villain that made her so bad.


Another fun tidbit: Batwoman won’t be fully alone in superhero world! By means of the Arrowverse crossovers, we’ll get to be able to see a lovely friendship blossom between her and Kara Danvers, which we got a glimpse of in the last inter-series event. As for whether Batman will join his cousin in the flesh, Schechter teased that “anything is possible,” however the EPs noted that they really aspire to set up Batwoman in her own right before bringing in Bruce Wayne.


As for the aspect of the show that’s been generating a ton of excitement — that Kate Kane is the opening out lesbian superhero to lead her own show — Schechter made it known that Kate is so much more than who she loves. “We love this character,” she mentioned. “We love her sexuality, and we love her in back of her sexuality.”


Dries also made sure to give credit where credit was due, shouting out the Arrowverse shows from Greg Berlanti for "laying the groundwork for a show like this to exist" by frequently spotlighting LGBTQ+ characters alongside the other heroes that we love. Toward the end of the panel, she added, “What’s critical to us is that Kate being gay is just another one of her traits and we’re not really going to prepare it that huge of a story apart from the fact that once she falls in love, it’s going to be with a woman.”


Schechter concluded the sentiment, adding that like in all the Arrowverse shows, "these characters all have really wealthy, complex lives connected with friend and relative and work and love, and it’s that same sort of balance here."


Without consideration, both noted that they are most excited to be able to see Kate’s love story play out on screen.