The CW cancels Batwoman
The series, which (eventually) starred Javicia Leslie as the title character, ran for three seasons on the network
After three seasons, two Batwomen, and a great many kicks to the face, The CW has announced that it’s killing Batwoman off. Deadline reports the news, including comments from series showrunner Caroline Dries, who revealed the cancellation on social media, writing that, “Just got the sad news that #Batwoman will not be seeing an S4. I am bummed, but full of gratitude. What an honor to make 51 episodes. So many inspiring, brilliant people contributed to this series. Thank you producers, cast and crew. Thank you, fans! We love you.”
Batwoman—this latest incarnation, leastways—starred Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, a young woman who begins punching crime after discovering a copy of the Batwoman suit that former series star Ruby Rose apparently left lying around on her way out the door at the end of the show’s first season. (Rose’s character Kate Kane did reappear eventually with a new face/actor—Wallis Day—attached to her, though, because of comic books.) Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, and Nicole Kang all co-starred on the series.
Despite some early growing pains, Batwoman stepped up to be a respectable addition to the CW’s Greg Berlanti-verse of shows, with Leslie settling in well to her spot as the lead of the vigilante drama. That being said, ratings on the series have never been precisely superheroic, and while pretty much all of the CW’s capes shows—including their ostensible flagship, The Flash—are way down from the highs of recent years, it’s not hard to see how the decision to pull the plug here came to be made.
Which also opens up that other question that comic book TV fans have been badgering the network with in recent months. Because if Batwoman was only doing a little worse than Legends Of Tomorrow—which, it was—can a similar verdict for the crew of the Waverider, currently locked in a between-seasons limbo of their own, be far behind?