Sunday’s introduction of a new title character did little to kickstart interest in The CW’s Arrowverse series Batwoman, with the season two premiere ‘What Happened to Kate Kane’ pulling in just 663,000 viewers and a 0.1 rating in the key 18-49 demo.
The Ruby Rose-led series premiere amassed 1.8 million viewers back in 2019, but ratings quickly declined with the season one finale being viewed by just 740,000 people.
Following Rose’s exit after season one, the producers made the decision to introduce a new Batwoman in Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder, but her debut this past weekend proved to be the series’ third-lowest rated episode to date ahead of season one’s ‘If You Believe in Me, I’ll Believe in You’ (640,000 viewers) and ‘A Narrow Escape’ (630,000). It’s also the lowest rating for any season premiere of the various Arrowverse shows.
SEE ALSO: New Batwoman star Javicia Leslie on differentiating her character from Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane
Next up from the Arrowverse is the launch of the new spinoff series Superman & Lois, which was going to cross over with Batwoman later in the season only for the pandemic to put those plans on hold this year. Whether Batwoman will still be around in 2022 given these numbers, we shall see…
In season two of BATWOMAN, when Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) first discovers Kate Kane’s Batsuit, she has no idea how drastically her life is about to change. A sassy, smart lesbian with a difficult past, Ryan sees the suit as her chance to finally be powerful and no longer a victim as she survives in the tough streets of the city.
While Ryan goes rogue in the shadows, Gotham grapples with their missing hero, believing Batwoman has fled the city after a public stand-off with Commander Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and the Crows. But Kate Kane’s disappearance hits hardest at home where Jacob, Sophie (Meagan Tandy), Luke (Camrus Johnson), Mary (Nicole Kang) and even Alice (Rachel Skarsten) each struggle with the devastating news in their own way. Meanwhile, the False Face Society tightens its grip on Gotham, distributing a perilous new drug known as Snakebite, “Bruce Wayne” (Warren Christie) finds his way home to wreak havoc, Safiyah (Shivaani Ghai) surfaces with plans for revenge, and a new set of villains descends on the city.
It’s not long before Ryan realizes how much the symbol on the suit means to Gotham, launching her on a personal journey that takes her from fledgling substitute to confident caped crusader, from living in her van with her plant to chasing villains in the Batmobile. Ryan Wilder becomes a very different Batwoman than Kate Kane – her own Batwoman – but with the same understanding of what it means to be a hero.
Batwoman stars Javicia Leslie (God Friended Me), Shivani Ghai (Dominion), Leah Gibson (Jessica Jones) , Nathan Owens (Devious Maids) and Alex Morf (Gotham), while Rachel Skarsten (Alice), Camrus Johnson (Luke Fox), Meagan Tandy (Sophie Moore) and Nicole Kang (Mary Hamilton) reprise their roles from season one.
