During the airing of last night’s episode of Arrow, the CW released a promo for “Elseworlds,” the backdrop for this year’s Arrowverse crossover. Ruby Rose, who plays Batwoman, made her first appearance in the promo, sporting bright red hair and a sexy bat suit.
For those unfamiliar with the Arrowverse crossover, it is an event on the CW that started back in 2014 with DC Comics characters joining together from their respective shows. This year, it will be a three-night event, starting December 9th with The Flash, December 10th with Arrow, and December 11th with Supergirl.
Fans have wondered where the elusive Batman has been all this time, and even the shows have made mention of a Bruce Wayne in passing. “Our approach is: What does Gotham look like after the Batman has been gone for three years? So if you have the law and order, protector, and hope gone, what happens as a result?” Caroline Dries, crossover consultant, told EW, “Some people are thriving in his absence because now they can start to do their own thing without the oversight. A lot of other people are suffering and they’re losing hope, and the city itself and its infrastructure are falling apart. So it’s not a happy place. Our guys walk into a grimy, scary Gotham.” “It’s a dead city,” Marc Guggenheim, consulting producer of Arrow, added, “It’s the worst case scenario. The reason no one talks about Gotham is the city might as well be dead. It’s practically a ghost town.”
Ruby Rose shared her excitement of her new role as Batwoman with EW: “It’s a strange feeling to put on a suit like this that has been custom made for you knowing that it’s going to transform you into a character that does amazing things. You feel very empowered and it just instantly changes everything you feel in that moment.” Regarding playing the role as a lesbian superhero, Rose also had some insight: ““The fact that she is an outwardly gay superhero, which is something growing up I would’ve loved to have seen on my TV, was a big deciding factor as to why I was so passionate about the role. This [role] just meant a lot more to me because I could relate in so many ways and, at the same time, felt like this was a job that would give me a purpose every day coming into work beyond just getting to live my dream, which is acting, and would be far more rewarding than anything I’ve done in the past.”
There has been some backlash from fans concerning the choice of Ruby Rose to play Batwoman. Those involved in the show adamantly disagree. “It’s just that she has that aura of cool, nonchalant, somewhat aloof, mixed with charming and thoughtful and funny that it just kind of all made sense for her to be Kate,” Batwoman executive producer Caroline Dries stated. Stephen Amell, who plays Green Arrow in Arrow, agreed: “I don’t think there could be a better person for it than Ruby. We shot a scene with her last night, and her exchange with Grant was just, ‘Oh, ok, this is Batwoman.’” Ruby Rose’s Batwoman is sure to add a unique flair to this year’s crossover.