Arrowverse fans were stunned when it was announced back in May that Ruby Rose had elected to leave Batwoman after just one season. When the Australian actress first donned the cape and cowl for 2018’s “Elseworlds,” ahead of her own show, it was assumed by all that she was in it for the long haul. Instead, Rose has moved on to other things and the series will continue with Javicia Leslie as new lead character Ryan Wilder.
Of course, the reasons behind Rose’s decision to say goodbye to Kate Kane have been the topic of much speculation. Reports claimed that the star struggled to handle the continuous long working hours required of her, especially in the wake of a bad neck injury she received last summer, which allegedly caused the actress to be difficult to work with on set. Speaking on Sirius XM’s The Jess Cagle Show, though, Rose denied that this was the case, explaining:
“It wasn’t that,” the actress said. “I mean, that definitely made going back to work so quickly tricky. They really accommodated trying to help me out the best they could, going back so early. We wanted to obviously meet the release date of the show. I think what played a bigger part was more, we got shut down early. We didn’t get to finish the first season, which is such a shame, especially for a first season show.”
Following season 1 wrapping up early due to the pandemic halting production, it seems Rose and the execs sat down and “mutually agreed” that the two parties should go their separate ways.
“We all kind of thought about where we’re at and, and, and so did Warner Bros. and Greg Berlanti, and we were discussing the show…and we sort of mutually agreed that probably what was best for the show, at the time, was they go in a different direction and I go in a different direction.”
Rose then went on to say that she still believes it was the best thing for the show for her to walk away at this stage as she thinks that the producers can go forward with renewed creativity now as they work with a new lead and protagonist.
“I do believe that that’s what was best for the show,” Rose continued “And I think that everything we set out to do, we accomplished, and I feel like as far as Kate’s story, it kind of made sense now that handing over the mantle to somebody else would be a very sort of creative process for the producers and for the show. And then for myself, of course, saying goodbye to that character is sad, but I also am excited for everything else that’s coming up.”
The actress is clearly still reluctant to really get into the ins and outs of what made her quit, so it looks like we might have to wait a while longer for the dust to settle before we can learn the full story. In the meantime, Batwoman is now shooting its second season in Vancouver, with set photos already revealing our first look at Leslie in the Batsuit ahead of the series’ return to The CW in January 2021.