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Batwoman028 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
on bringing Batwoman – and her alter-ego
Kate Kane – to the screen for years, ever since
Berlanti Productions secretly secured the rights
to Batwoman. “They brought me on very early
to make sure I gave the character the right voice
and that we had the right costumes and the
right sets and all those things [for Elseworlds],”
Dries says of coming on board even before the
Batwoman show was in the works. “So I was in
a unique situation of deciding these things for a
character when I hadn’t written the outline for
the pilot yet.”
Despite the logistical and creative challenges
posed, Batwoman was not a remotely tough sell
for Dries. “I was instantly drawn to the fact thatit would be a female lead and that she would be
a lesbian,” Dries says. She adds that comic book
shows appeal to her own creative sensibilities
and tastes (she was previously a writer on
Smallville), so “being in Gotham City is such a
treat. The villains of the city have such a rich
history and there’s a lot to play with.” The fi rst
challenge, before even getting to Gotham, was
to cast the show’s lead. As with all comic book
characters, Kate Kane changes subtly with every
creative team that tackles her, but Dries notes
that “the thing that is part of every permutation
of the character is this edginess combined with
this softness to her”. Ruby Rose was suggested
early on, but Dries didn’t think she would beO
ver the years the Arrowverse has
faithfully fi lled out the corners of its DC
universe(s), but one area has been more
or less a black spot: Gotham City. DC
is notoriously reticent about letting TV shows
play around with the Bat characters, and, bar
a cheeky reference or two, the Dark Knight and
his world have been left out of the Arrowverse
entirely. Until now.
Or, more accurately, until 2018’s Elseworlds
crossover, which gave us our fi rst glimpse of
Gotham City, and Ruby Rose’s Batwoman.
Now she’s got a whole series to her name (and
a Season Two already commissioned), but
showrunner Caroline Dries has been working
WORDS ABIGAIL CHANDLER
AS THE ARROWVERSE’S LATEST ADDITION
ARRIVES ON BRITISH TV SCREENS, WE TALK TO
SHOWRUNNER CAROLINE DRIES AND ACTOR
CAMRUS JOHNSON ABOUT BATWOMAN