The CW’s Batwoman Will Be Jewish

We reported last year that the CW is developing a show about Batwoman. Canonically, Batwoman, real name Katherine “Kate” Kane, is a Jewish lesbian. We knew the CW was looking to cast a lesbian actress in the role — eventually landing on Ruby Rose — but mentioned nothing about her Jewishness. This led many fans to be concerned; Kane’s Jewishness is important to her character! (It’s been part of the many debates over whether Jewish roles should be played by Jewish actors.)

This weekend, however, the CW confirmed that Kane will be an explicitly Jewish woman in the show. “Kate Kane is a Jewish woman,” Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries said at a Television Critics Association panel. Dries went on to add that while her religion won’t be a huge part of the story, Ruby Rose, who’s Christian, did have to cover up her cross tattoos during filming.

People have very strong feelings on the fact that Ruby Rose isn’t Jewish, arguing that the CW went out of their way to cast a lesbian actress, but did not make the same effort to cast a Jewish one.

(Kane is part of a long line of Jewish superheroes, including Magneto, Peter Parker in one of the Into the Spiderverse universes, and the Maximoff twins in the Marvel universe.)

Can’t wait to see how it all goes down? Here’s the first trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrIiPcv4_iY

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