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
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
