Ruby Rose Cast As CW’s Queer, Jewish Batwoman
The glorious Ruby Rose Image by Getty Images
The CW has crowned its newest Batwoman: model-actor Ruby Rose will take up the queer, Jewish mantle.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Rose will make her first batty appearance in December, for an annual DC crossover event. A full-fledged “Batwoman” series is also currently in development. If the show is picked up, Rose will fly onto small screens at some point in 2019 for the first-ever TV series focusing on an LGBTQ superhero.
The show itself will be a bonanza of LGBTQ representation: Rose identifies as gay and gender-fluid. The Batwoman she’s portraying was reintroduced by DC in 2006 as an out Jewish lesbian. “Vampire Diaries” creator Caroline Dries, who will write and executive produce “Batwoman,” is gay. The promotional material for the “Batwoman” debut emphasizes the character’s sexuality — not a given, considering the straight-wash of other Hollywood productions, like the upcoming Freddy Mercury biopic.
“Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence,” reads the show’s official logline, according to Entertainment Weekly. “But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.”
What’s less clear is if the series will retain the character’s Jewish identity. Rose is not Jewish, but if she needs any pointers, she can feel free to shoot us an email. Selfishly, we’d love to see Batwoman swoop in early for the High Holidays and reserve the best seats for her and her girlfriend, a Gotham police officer. And we really, truly, hope that she had a bat mitzvah.
Regardless, we’re sure the show will fill that lesbian, hopefully Jewish, bat niche we’ve so been dealing with. Congratulations to all Jewish bats, lesbians, and Ruby Rose lovers!
Juliana Kaplan is a news intern at The Forward. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter, @julianamkaplan
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.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.