Batwoman is hanging up her cape and extremely red wig, or at least the actor who plays Batwoman is. According to Deadline, Ruby Rose has announced that she won’t be returning to the CW series for its second season, saying in a statement that it was a “very difficult decision” and that she has “the utmost respect for the cast, crew, and everyone involved with the show.” Deadline says Rose’s decision to leave the show is not because of the injury that almost left her paralyzed last year (as immortalized in an Instagram video she posted of her surgery, which we determined to be “fucking gross as hell”), but neither she nor the show’s producers would offer any other statement on why she was choosing to leave Batwoman.
What we do know is that producer Greg Berlanti and Warner Bros. TV have “reaffirmed their commitment” to the show and that they will recast Kate Kane/Batwoman with another LGBTQ actor, saying as much in a statement that also alluded to a “new direction” for the second season of Batwoman. That could be taken a few ways, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that there are changes in store for Batwoman beyond recasting its main character (especially since the show was already pretty successful, avoiding the freshman slump that threatened to drag down a certain series about Legends before it had a chance to blossom like a beautiful flower). This news also comes not long after The CW teased that its next multi-show crossover will be all about Superman and Batwoman, so clearly the Arrowverse had big plans for Batwoman… unless this is one of the repercussions of Superboy-Prime punching the walls of reality! You heard it here first: The CW is doing Infinite Crisis next, and it will involve Batwoman suddenly looking like a different person.
(We’re just kidding, obviously, unless that really does happen. If so, we reserve the right to brag about how smart we are.)