Last week, The CW released the first full-length trailer for its forthcoming Batwoman series, the latest addition to the network’s ever-growing Arrowverse. Fan reaction to the preview seemed split down the middle, though. For every person looking forward to Ruby Rose’s take on the character, there seemed to be someone decrying it. Now, it seems like a more vocal subset of the internet unimpressed with their first look at the series is dedicating their efforts to taking it down.
A few days ago, we brought you the news that the first look at Batwoman hit over 170K dislikes on YouTube within a week of its debut, and now, Comicbook.com is reporting that this is because the trailer is being specifically targeted with dislikes and comment bombings. As of this article publication, the video is at 241,000 dislikes and over 66,000 comments, most from comic book fans angry with the series’ upfront feminist ideologies.
Kate Kane is one of DC’s only open lesbians, so it was expected that her series wouldn’t shy away from her personal life. Yet, certain fans take umbrage with the character’s lines that claim Bruce’s Batsuit is imperfect or not wanting the Caped Crusader to receive the credit for a woman’s work.
In an interview with TV Line, star Ruby Rose recently raved about the series’ decision to focus on the character relationships just as much as the big action scenes, saying:
“The pilot, we did an extraordinary thing. “When it comes to shows like this and you want something that could potentially be otherworldly or in the superhero land, you can risk not being particularly grounded. And I think when you have Gotham and when you have Kate Kane, she doesn’t have super powers, it is a grounded show… For us, in the pilot, what I found extraordinary was how much we’re going into the relationships and the characters.”
Unfortunately, attacking a comic book adaptation for differing ideologies isn’t new. Earlier this year, angry trolls review-bombed Captain Marvel over Brie Larson’s press tour comments, leading Rotten Tomatoes to completely reevaluate how they calculate fan ratings. Those reviews didn’t come close to putting a dent into Captain Marvel’s box-office intake, however, but you can still find many online bloggers vocal in their hatred for a pretty successful film, and earlier this month, somebody went as far as to completely remove Captain Marvel, as well as the all-female group scene, from their own edit of Avengers: Endgame.
I get it, comic book fans usually have long histories and personal investments in their favorite series, and any sort of perceived change to the status quo concerns them, but it’s downright sad to use that as justification for directly attacking films, TV series, and those working both in front of and behind the camera. Hopefully, this type of fan entitlement will die down as those responsible for bringing comic book adaptations to life are showing no signs of giving in to their demands.
Batwoman is currently set to premiere on The CW later this fall.