It was an eventful second day at DC Fandome this weekend, packed with reveals and surprises for superhero fans. One of the highlights was the Batwoman panel, which featured executive producers Caroline Dries and Sara Schechter, as well as cast members Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Nicole Kang, and the new Batwoman Javicia Leslie.
The panel began with the executive producers and season one cast reminiscing about the first season. This included Caroline Dries’ shock that they were actually able to use Batman and Bruce Wayne on the show. While Camrus Johnson mentioned his surprise at the iconic Batman villain, Hush, being a part of the series.
Javicia Leslie joined the panel about ten minutes in and talked a bit about her feeling with playing this original character Ryan Wilder, “When I read the character description it was definitely me. I love the idea that, you know, she’s, it’s like goofy meets bad ass meets a person who doesn’t like to be told what to do, a person that does not like to follow the rules.”
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Javicia recalled talking about this sort of role being a dream of hers earlier in the year, “In May I did an interview and I said, ‘Well one of my future goals and one of my biggest dreams is to become a superhero’…And then a month later I become the first black Batwoman.”
Javicia added, “I feel honored to be able to be a voice for my community, and the entirety of my community. And then, to play a character that represents my community in the same way, like, that’s not a common thing as an actress, to also, to be a part of a community and to play a character of a community.”
WHAT’S COMING IN BATWOMAN SEASON 2
Dries wasted no time giving fans an idea of what is to come when the show returns. “We have two major stories this season as we come into season two. The first one is where is Kate? What happened to Kate…And all of our characters are going to have different perspectives on that. Different conspiracy theories, different points of view, and it will create a lot of drama, tension, mystery, intrigue.”
“And then we have…a new hero rising into Gotham…She was a girl who was a statistic of injustice the moment she was born, and the system was not built for this person, and she will constantly battle against the system. All throughout, she’s battled through it her whole life and she will continue to battle against it as Batwoman.”
Javicia Leslie On The New Batwoman’s Mission
Javicia shared a bit about her character’s motivations and what this new perspective will bring to show,
“I know that going into it, it’s going to be a struggle because when you are part of a community that has been neglected by the system, that’s the initial community that you feel responsible for helping…You are going to see that community of Gotham that got overlooked. And it’s funny because a lot of Mary’s patients can be examples of that community.”
She then went on to explain:
“I know when Caroline and I were talking about it, just a battle of, like, they’re not the only ones that need help. But those are the ones that Ryan is attached to, that she really wants to be able to help… Just to kind of have that crusader that’s for that part of the community, I think that’s important and that’s really what we’re going to dive into this season.”
Nicole Kang added in, “I’m especially excited to see this new relationship happen in the wake of Mary dealing with this mysterious disappearance…and she’s been a person who I think is always looking for family. Is always looking for community. Is always looking for somebody to see her…Mary and Ryan, sort of have that in common perhaps. Which is why I think Mary really looks to Ryan in this way.”
