We're All Rooting for You, 'Batwoman'
The CW released a first extended trailer for its upcoming Batwoman series, set to debut in the Fall. The show stars Ruby Rose as the titular character (secret identity: Kate Kane) who sets out to save her girlfriend, her father and her city.
Watch the trailer below. Thoughts follow!
I’m torn on this Batwoman trailer. On one hand, Rose seems like a solid choice to play Batwoman and she definitely proves she can kick some cowardly criminal ass. And the show sounds much more promising when you read the synopsis (below). I’m hoping it delivers on all the family and criminal drama it promises. Also, the idea of Batman abandoning Gotham is clever and different. It also promises that hopefully this will be solely Batwoman’s show with no cameos from the Caped Crusader himself.
At the same time, Batwoman shares the same shortcomings of other CW shows. It just feels, for lack of a better term, cheap. I know The CW doesn’t have The Dark Knight Rises budgets but the show looks only a few steps above a fan-made film, at least in this trailer. I could be wrong! The show could premiere and look far, far better than this. But it feels very campy and a bit cheap at the moment. That’s the downside of being a TV series that doesn’t air on HBO.
But let’s focus on the positive again. It’s awesome that two of the biggest DC stars on TV are women (in fact, Batwoman will air back-to-back with Supergirl, which is a great call). It’s also terrific that the show is so upfront and proud of Batwoman’s sexuality. Kudos for The CW for having no fear there. I can only hope they stand strong in the face of ugly trolls who will surely arise as the premiere date looms.
The best part of the Batwoman trailer? That suit. Batwoman’s costume looks slick! Far better than what we have seen on other superhero TV shows, that’s for sure. They stayed true to the comics with the red and black color scheme too. That’ll make some comic fans very happy.
Like all TV shows, Batwoman looks like it’ll have a few shortcomings but it still seems promising, exciting and ground-breaking. I hope the show succeeds because it’s about an iconic comic book character, it’s a show that stays true to itself and its roots and, dammit, I want more reasons to make misogynistic, homophobic trolls pissed.
“Kate Kane never planned to be Gotham’s new vigilante. Three years after Batman mysteriously disappeared, Gotham is a city in despair. Without the Caped Crusader, the Gotham City Police Department was overrun and outgunned by criminal gangs. Enter Jacob Kane and his military-grade Crows Private Security, which now protects the city with omnipresent firepower and militia. Years before, Jacob’s first wife and daughter were killed in the crossfire of Gotham crime. He sent his only surviving daughter, Kate Kane, away from Gotham for her safety.
After a dishonorable discharge from military school and years of brutal survival training, Kate returns home when the Alice in Wonderland gang targets her father and his security firm, by kidnapping his best Crow officer Sophie Moore. Although remarried to wealthy socialite Catherine Hamilton-Kane, who bankrolls the Crows, Jacob is still struggling with the family he lost, while keeping Kate—the daughter he still has—at a distance. But Kate is a woman who’s done asking for permission. In order to help her family and her city, she’ll have to become the one thing her father loathes—a dark knight vigilante.”