Javicia Leslie is CW’s New Batwoman, replaces Ruby Rose

The CW announced 33-year-old bisexual actress Javicia Leslie would be the new Batwoman. Leslie replaces Ruby Rose, who left the show after one season in a shocking move.

Batwoman premiered last year as the first superhero series in television history to feature an LGBTQ character as the central character. When Rose left the show, the producers wanted to cast another LGBTQ actor in the role.

Leslie co-star in God Friended Me, She also known for her roles in The Family Business, MacGyver and Always a Bridesmaid.

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Instead of playing Rose’s character Kate Kane, The CW created a new DC Comics character named Ryan Wilder for Leslie to play on the show. Ryan, who will be lesbian on the series, is described as a “likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed,” according to the reports.

Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today, reformed and sober, Ryan lives in a van with her plant. Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. She is also described as “nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the Batsuit before her” and “not your stereotypical all-American hero.”

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“I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community,” Javicia Leslie (new Batwoman) told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.

On Instagram, Ruby Rose praised Leslie’s casting. “This is amazing!! I am so glad Batwoman will be played by an amazing Black woman. I want to congratulate Javicia Leslie on taking over the bat cape. You are walking into an amazing cast and crew. I can’t wait to watch season 2 you are going to be amazing!!” she wrote.