Batwoman TV series finally debut this past Sunday night on the CW. Kate Kane is played by Ruby Rose who is best known in the John Wick franchise, and she made her debut as Batwoman on the Elseworld Crossover even on last winter’s Arrowverse crossover event series.
This time her first episode and the next second episode will be an origin story from Kate Kane becoming Batwoman. What does Batwoman’s series brings that’s different from past DC Arrowverse series?
PROS
I believe Ruby Rose was a great choice for the role of Kate Kane/Batwoman, and does her best with what she works with in the writing material is given to her. Alice who is played by Rachel Skarsten stands out from the pilot episode. She’s a great antagonist for Batwoman like she is in the Comic books. Rachel does not channel any kind of Joker vibe. She present her own take on Alice and does a fantastic job. We do get some but little inspiration from Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams’s Batwoman run on the show but very little is used for Batwoman’s origin in the pilot. We get some cool Easter eggs and nods from Batman’s mythology.
CONS
There is so many writing/story issues with the pilot. Batwoman takes place in Gotham City, but Gotham does not feel like Gotham at all. The City feels like a plain city and Batwoman could take place at any city, and nobody would care. The city of Gotham is known for being it’s own character but this Gotham feels very plain. Caroline Dines who is known for Vampire Diaries, Smallville, and the cover tv series Melrose. She developed the Batwoman series, and the writer of the pilot and the second episode that’s on record. She does not get the superheroes or the Batman mythology at all.
When Batwoman debut on the Arrowverse Cross over event last year many people where sold on Batwoman, but instead of continuing the pace we get an origin story that hurts the buzz for this series might’ve had. Audience are tired of watching origins story and having a character going backwards instead of moving forward hurts the interest of this series.
Batwoman Follows the template that Arrow started hurts the series from being any different. Kate Kane is basically the female version of Bruce Wayne who doesn’t have any personality and shes giving daddy issues is such a CW thing. Instead of ignoring the Batwoman origin told by Greg Rucka and J.H Williams in Detective Comics, Caroline Dines goes in a different direction that makes the pilot episode forgettable. Instead of having Batman be the inspiration for Batwoman like in the comic book stories, Batman is part of her origin tragedy.
How they presented Luke Fox as a poor version of his father Lucius Fox was a bad direction. Nothing against Camrus Johnson who plays Luke Fox, but I kept rolling my eyes every time he’s on screen. There’s a lot of cringy moments especially the scene between Batwoman and her ex Sophie played by Meagan Tandy.
The final issue is that all of Batwoman’s supporting cast who plays her family are all the same characters we’ve seen in Arrow. Her dad hates vigilantes like Detective Lance, her step mom is similar to Mora Queen high power society with something to hide. Her step sister is literally like Thea Queen spoiled but has hope to do good with Kate.
OVERALL: 5/10
Nothing is new with Batwoman tv series yet. It’s the same as Arrow. Im giving the pilot a 5/10 is me being nice because it’s only the first of a second part of the pilot. There’s still a lot of potential for the series to get better. Hush has a big role for season one, and who knows what else might be in-store for season one and future for Batwoman going forward. I do think Batwoman series are going to have to bring in some recognize Batman characters to get audiences to watch the show. With Matt Reeves Batman and James Gunn Suicide Squad coming out in summer of 2021, I Wonder what characters Batwoman is allowed to use for the series. I’m sure Caroline Dines and Greg Berlanti will be restricted from Warner Brothers in what characters can be used for the Batwoman series, because DC Streaming service has a lot of Batman stuff in their Titans series, and Batman’s world is rumored to have bigger plans in future movies.
My Comic Book Opinion 