Gender-fluid Australian actress Ruby Rose has been cast to play the first openly gay superhero in a TV series with her latest role as Batwoman. The star of “Orange is the New Black” will be introduced on The CW network in a December crossover episode with its other DC Comics shows, including “Arrow,” “The Flash” and “Supergirl.”
However, a standalone series about Batwoman is in development for the 2019–20 U.S. TV season.
Making history for being the first openly gay superhero to headline a TV series, Rose posted on Instagram a heartfelt message stating that she’s “thrilled and honored” and “an emotional wreck” over the news.
“This is a childhood dream,” the Australian actor posted on Instagram. “This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community who never felt represented on TV and felt alone and different.”
Batwoman is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. In the character’s debut issue, Batwoman is introduced as a female rival to the crime-fighting prowess of Batman, but also as a love interest for Batman.
The newer version of Batwoman has been openly gay in the comic books since 2006 when she was reintroduced as a lesbian of Jewish descent who was revealed to have been romantically involved with Renee Montoya, a former Gotham City Police detective. DC Comics representatives said at the time that they made the decision to make Batwoman gay in order to better reflect social diversity.
With the standalone series currently in the works, the Batwoman script will be written and co-executive-produced by Caroline Dries, writer and producer of “The Vampire Diaries.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
