CW is Developing A Jewish, Lesbian ‘Batwoman’

Caroline Dries will develop a “Batwoman” TV show for the CW Image by Forward Montage

By Jenny Singer July 17, 2018

Dark times call for a great hero, and Gotham might just get one. We need her but have done nothing to deserve her: a Jewish, female, queer, justice-loving, semi-nocturnal vigilante with strong ties to bats.

The CW has announced that it is working on a “Batwoman” TV show for its 2019 season, created by the people (Jews, mostly) responsible for the CW hit “Arrow” and written and executive produced by Caroline Dries, who created “The Vampire Diaries.” The characters will be based on their current DC comic iterations, which means that Batwoman will be an out lesbian who identifies as Jewish and works as a street fighter to bring justice to the people. Stranger things have not happened — not even on Netflix.

If a queer, Jewish, female superhero sounds pandering to you, it is — the character Batwoman was originally created in 1956 as a love interest for Batman to shut down rumors that the popular character might be gay himself. By 1964 she was more or less eclipsed by a younger and sexier iteration — Batgirl — and by 1985 she was killed, erased from the series by DC’s editor at the time, Julius Schwartz (sadly, we must claim him.)

DC reintroduced Batwoman in 2006. Instead of existing to demonstrate Batman’s heterosexuality, she was a lesbian, formerly discharged from the US army under “don’t ask don’t tell,” now in a happy relationship with a female Gotham police detective. Instead of a side character, she was a lead. And instead of being Christian by default, she was Jewish. Deadline, reporting on CW’s in-development “Batwoman” series, suggests that these changes will be kept. Eat your heart out, America.

But in the words of countless superheroes — not so fast!

The show will have to make it through rounds of development, be brought to pilot, and be selected for a series. And DC’s Batwoman explainer page mentions her sexuality almost in passing, and her Jewishness not at all. Most outlets are reporting on the new “Batwoman” series as an achievement for LGBT representation, but not for Jewish representation.

That’s odd. Do people have a prejudice against Jewish bats or something?

In the dulcet words of Katherine Kane (alias: Batwoman) in the DC Prime Earth comic series: “You coming? Or do I have to smash this bitch in the teeth all by myself?”

You = the world

This bitch = anti-Semitism and Jewish stereotyping

We’re coming with you, Batwoman!

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO