Batwoman Just Brought Back Ruby Rose’s Character And Recast Her

We are finally getting answers on what’s happening with Ruby Rose’s Batwoman.

By Faith McKay | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

ruby rose

Ever since actress Ruby Rose left the CW’s Batwoman, fans have wondered what will happen to her character, Kate Kane. Rose left the show after season one. Season two of the series began with a new actress playing a new central character. Still, questions surrounded what had happened to Kate Kane. Well, answers have finally been promised. Episode nine of season two just aired and Kate Kane has reappeared. 

Earlier this month, Ruby Rose did an interview where she expressed that she would be up for returning to the role as Kate Kane. She said that she would be happy to return for an episode to help explain what happened to her character. Up to this point, Kate Kane has simply disappeared and been considered possibly dead by the other characters on the show. Audiences haven’t taken well to this. There haven’t been any promises that the mystery surrounding Kate Kane would ever be resolved. This seems to be at least partially to blame for the record low number of viewers.

While the show cast Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, a new Batwoman to replace Ruby Rose, it was hardly satisfying. It didn’t give adequate answers to what happened to a character that audiences had invested in. The storyline problems have already begun to show. Showrunner Caroline Dries said that she felt recasting Kate Kane for season two was just off. Apparently, she reconsidered this stance. To talk about why, we’ll have to spoil the end of a recently aired episode of Batwoman, where it is all starting to make sense. So, at the end of the recent episode Survived Much Worse, we see a figure with their face covered in bandages. Around their neck is the real necklace of Kate Kane, that we used to see Ruby Rose wearing. The character is back. While previous reports sounded like the production team wasn’t prepared to make this happen, it’s happening. And showrunner Caroline Dries seemed excited about the change.

Following the airing of the episode, it was confirmed that the figure is Kate Kane, but not Ruby Rose. Wallis Day has been recast in the part. Previously, Wallis Day has been known for her part on the television series The Royals. Her other major work includes a part on the DC series Krypton as Nyssa-Vex. The actress recently posted on Instagram to share her excitement about taking on Ruby Rose’s previous role and how happy she was to be working on another DC project.

Showrunner Caroline Dries told TVLine, “Wallis Day is going to be playing our altered version of Kate Kane.” What will “altered” mean? Do the face bandages suggest that the show is going to directly address the fact that Kate Kane looks different now that she is being played by Wallis Day instead of Ruby Rose? Does “altered” only mean her appearance, or can we expect more changes for Kate Kane?

Possibly more important to the people running the show is the question of whether recasting Ruby Rose’s character will improve Batwoman’s ratings. Will news of Kate Kane’s return bring audiences back as well?