On the DCTV end of things, Ruby Rose’s exit from The CW’s Batwoman may arguably be one of the most interesting things to happen in this otherwise quiet season. Having sustained injuries on set, and plagued with difficulties in recovering due to the physical demands of the role, Rose chose to leave the show instead.
Since then, much has been speculated regarding the future of the character. Until yesterday:
Javicia Leslie of God Friended Me has been confirmed to be stepping into the role of Batwoman. However, it’s still not been confirmed which of Gotham’s champions will she be playing. Early casting reports called for an entirely new character named Ryan Wilder who, in the vein of Barbara Gordon in the 1966 Batman series, would be an original creation. While that is a completely realistic and viable option, it does seem to be a missed opportunity to bring a pre-existing comic character to life.
All that said, casting exercises are no stranger to placeholder names and it remains a possibility that we may still see Leslie assume a more familiar character in the series.
Tiffany Fox
First appearing in the ’70s as a character in the Batman comic series, Tiffany Fox was given a revamp and reintroduced in the New 52 as Batwoman regular Luke Fox’s younger sister. In the 2014 comic book event Futures End Tiffany is seen as the future Batgirl. With Batwoman‘s season 1 establishing sibling rivalry as a basis of key character relationships, having Tiffany and Luke work together would be an interesting juxtaposition of sibling relationships against Kate’s and Alice’s antagonistic one.
Tamara Fox
It just makes sense that a character with links to someone already existing in the show (i.e., Luke Fox) would be the option to assume the Batwoman mantle.
While Tamara has never had a precedent as any of the Bat-characters, she would be an interesting choice to assume an older counterpart of Tiffany as Batwoman. Even in the comics Tamara has revealed herself to be quite the detective, having tracked down Tim Drake during his Red Robin days, and establishing a working relationship with him
With Batwoman‘s strong family-related themes, it’ll be interesting to eventually see either Tamara or Tiffany, in the role of Batwoman working with Luke Fox as Batwing. Hell, let’s have them all form a Bat-Trinity.
Helena Bertinelli
Reintroduced as a “dark-skinned Italian” in the New 52, Helena Bertinelli would be an interesting, vengeance-driven option for Batwoman. In the comics, the character operated as Batgirl for a short time (before Cassandra Cain assumed the role) and is largely known for her violent, non-Batman approving ways. Additionally, like Tamara Fox, this version of Helena has extensive experience working with an ex-Robin–in this case the OG himself: Dick Grayson in his days as a spy for Spyral.
With the Huntress moniker having already been used in the Arrowverse, and the character featured in the recent Birds of Prey film, it would make sense to want to bring in Helena in a different identity. Of course, there has already been a Helena Bertinelli in the Arrowverse, so maybe there might be a slightly more interesting option…
Helena Wayne
This list really seems to be me just naming variations of the same characters doesn’t it? Well, you can blame DC for that.
When Huntress was first introduced in 1977, the character was named Helena Wayne, daughter of the Golden Age iterations of the now-retired Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. While the character was eventually removed and replaced by the original Bertinelli version in the ’80s, she has remained rather popular and saw not only a revival in the pages of Earth-Two in the New 52, but was also integrated into Prime-Earth’s stories. This version of Huntress was also Robin to the Earth-Two Batman.
The recent Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event on The CW saw a cameo of the Birds of Prey television series’ Helena Wayne/Huntress played by Ashley Scott. The daughter of the now missing Batman and Catwoman as inspired by the 1992 film iterations of the character, Helena Wayne has proven a lasting legacy.
Similarly, it would be interesting if this iteration of Helena had an African-American Catwoman mother as homage to the Eartha Kitt rendition of the character from the Adam West Batman series–one that has gone on to inspire the upcoming The Batman film which will feature Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle.
The Batwomen
Before Kate Kane’s taking on of the mantle in 2006, the Batwoman character was largely unused in the comics. Nevertheless, the title found some use in the animated movie Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. Like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero before it, Mystery of the Batwoman was an entry into the DC Animated Universe, home to the likes of Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited.
This iteration of the character sees three different women jointly assuming the Batwoman identity: GCDP Detective Sonia Alcana, Kathleen “Kathy” Duquesne, and Dr. Roxanne “Rocky” Ballantine.
While none of these characters have had much in the way of comic lore, it would be interesting to see any of them canonised in the Arrowverse. Furthermore, there could be the (risky) possibility of multiple people sharing the identity of Batwoman over the years, with Luke Fox the recruiting constant in the fight against Gotham’s decline.