Batwoman Season 2 started with Kate Kane (played by Ruby Rose in Season 1) missing and presumed dead after she disappeared following a plane crash. Episode 8 of The CW show, however, revealed that Kate is still alive—though she looks very different.
In the most recent episode, titled "Survived Much Worse," Ryan (Javicia Leslie) and Alice (Rachel Skarsten) headed to the island of Coryana, but all they had to do was look under Gotham. In the city's sewers, we saw a badly burned Kane wrapped in bandages.
The fact that Kate is badly burned, as when those bandages are unwrapped she will have a new face. After Ruby Rose left the show after one season after sustaining injuries on set, the role has been recast, with actor Wallis Day set to play the caped crusader.
This is not the British actor's first time in the world of DC Comics. Day appeared in two seasons of the SyFy show Krypton as Nyssa-Vex until that show was canceled in 2019.
The actor began her career in the U.K. soap Hollyoaks in 2012. She has also appeared in a 2015 version of Jekyll & Hyde, Shakespeare series Will and soapy drama The Royals. She is also set to star in The Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua's new movie Infinite alongside Mark Wahlberg.
The actor announced her casting on Batwoman with a tweet that read, "Super excited to finally announce I'm joining the cast of Batwoman. I'm sure you can imagine how much this means to me and how incredible it's been working on the show so far. Everyone's made me feel so welcome and it's amazing being back home with my DC family."
Speaking to TVLine, showrunner Caroline Dries said of what is to come for Kate in the rest of Batwoman Season 2, "We will watch these two parallel stories of our Bat Team moving on to protect Gotham without being in the shadow of Kate, and Kate going through this complicated and serious journey that will be tough for her and nail-biting to the audience."
A Deadline article announcing the news, meanwhile, revealed that this new version of Kate will come with some changes for the character. She is described as an "altered version" of the character, before noting that, "Leslie will continue to be Batwoman. In fact, the re-introduction of Kate Kane further solidifies Leslie's place as the one and only Batwoman."
Rose announced she was stepping down from the role in after the first season had finished airing in mid-2021. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about why she left, the Orange is the New Black actor said, "Being the lead of a superhero show is tough. Being the lead in anything is tough. But I think, in that particular instance, it was a lot more difficult because I was still recovering from my surgery. I had my surgery and then 10 days later I went to work, which maybe wasn't the best idea."
Previously, Rose had shared with her Instagram followers the extent of the injuries she sustained. "To everyone asking about my new Pez dispenser scar on my neck," she wrote, "a couple of months ago I was told I needed an emergency surgery or I was risking becoming paralyzed. I had herniated two discs doing stunts, and they were close to severing my spinal chord. I was in chronic pain and yet couldn't feel my arms."
Batwoman continues Sundays at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on The CW. All episodes of Season 2 so far are streaming on The CW website and app; Season 1 streaming on HBO Max.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()})jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')}if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})
