The CW picks up Batwoman, Katy Keene, and Nancy Drew, passes on Jane The Virgin spin-off
Some big moves are happening over at The CW, with Variety reporting that the network has granted series orders to three of its new pilots: Batwoman, Katy Keene, and Nancy Drew. Batwoman is a spin-off of the Arrow shows (specifically last year’s Elseworlds crossover event), and it stars Ruby Rose as the bat-themed vigilante hero of Gotham City—but not the bat-themed vigilante hero of Gotham City, as Elseworlds established that he’s mysteriously absent at this point in the Arrow timeline. The Variety story mentions that Rose’s Batwoman is “armed with a passion for social justice and a flair of speaking her mind,” so it sounds like it’ll be embracing the overtly political tone that Supergirl has been having some success with. Here’s a Batwoman teaser, featuring our hero in a cool pose with some CG cape action:
Katy Keene, meanwhile, is a spin-off of Riverdale starring Lucy Hale as an aspiring fashion designer who befriends Ashleigh Murray’s Josie McCoy (which means Murray won’t be sticking around on Riverdale for much longer). Both Katy Keene and Batwoman come from super-producer Greg Berlanti, who can probably afford to put a few more stories on his house after these pickups. The third show, Nancy Drew, sounds a lot like Riverdale but… with Nancy Drew. It’ll star Kennedy McMann as the famous detective, set in the summer after her high school graduation.
The CW renewed all of its shows this season (not counting stuff that was already set to end), but not all of its pilots are getting that same treatment. The Variety story says that the network passed on Jane The Novella, an anthology spin-off based on Jane The Virgin, so it will not be going to series. Also, the Lost Boys adaptation isn’t moving forward, but it’s being retooled instead of straight-up canceled.