This is the one post I never wanted to write. After three seasons and 51 episodes, the CW has cancelled Batwoman. Here’s the announcement from Batwoman show runner Caroline Dries:
Just got the sad news that #Batwoman will not be seeing an S4. I am bummed, but full of gratitude. What an honor to make 51 episodes. So many inspiring, brilliant people contributed to this series. Thank you producers, cast and crew. Thank you, fans! We love you. ❤️
— Caroline Dries (@carolinedries) April 29, 2022
There will be a lot of speculation in the days to come, just as there has been over the last months while fans anxiously awaited news for a renewal. The CW is in the middle of a drawn out sale of its network, which certainly has complicated the renewal process for many of its shows. Batwoman wasn’t the network’s highest rated (though it’s worth noting that Batwoman had higher ratings than two shows that were already granted early renewal, Nancy Drew and Riverdale) — but in a streaming era it’s always hard to gauge how much network ratings factor, writers’ rooms and stars often encourage fans that after they’re done watching live to stream the next day on the CW app. But honestly, all the armchair post-game analyzing won’t matter much anyway.
What matters is that Batwoman was a shining beacon of what’s possible in Black queer storytelling on television. The first Black lesbian superhero character to lead her own show. The first love story between two Black women to lead its own show. Period. And it’s gone. And there are no words for that kind of hurt.
Last night on her Instagram Live, lead actress Javicia Leslie (Ryan Wilder/Batwoman) said of the show’s potential renewal that “whatever’s meant to be will be, in the most beautiful way. We’ve done it already though — that’s the great part. We’ve made this history. Ryan will always exist. Sophie and Ryan will always exist. Their love will always exist.”
That, of course, is true. Once a ceiling has been cracked wide open to let in the sky, it can’t be all the way closed back off to darkness. Once lungs have been filled with fresh air, they can’t go back to surviving off dust alone. And Black queer fans looking to see how we love and fight and survive, and yes become our own heroes — we’ve survived on dust for far too long. Ryan Wilder was sunshine. Gotham might be night, but she was like walking into daylight.
Javicia Leslie, as a Black queer actress working in this industry, knew that more than most. When Batwoman was recast at the start of Season Two, following the departure of Ruby Rose in Season One, many white fans were less than receptive. No. I’m the Black Editor-in-Chief of a queer website on the day that the first Black lesbian superhero show (and one of the very few Black-led lesbian shows in television history) was cancelled so I should just say it — Javicia Leslie faced sizable racist backlash. It’s been documented. And no actor should have to put up with that (other Black stars of CW shows, many of whom have built community with each other, have also discussed the difficulty of fan interactions online while fulfilling work obligations). So that’s the first thing.
But with time, those fans did fade away. With time, Batwoman became a safe haven for Black queer nerds looking for a home in a comic book pop culture terrain that is often centered around the needs and wants of white people. “Wildmoore Wednesdays” and Batwoman’ s third season created a fandom the likes of which that we’ve never seen in the media landscape before now, one that was normalized around Black queerness.
In December, before Ryan Wilder and Sophie Moore were officially put together on screen, but well into their courtship, Leslie tweeted “As a kid, it was so rare to see romance between two black women on screen… to see a reflection of myself, and other women I know.”
Rare doesn’t begin to describe it. And I’ll be honest — a lot of what I have right now is anger. Because Ryan was the first, and first’s are never easy. The decision was made to cast a Black Batwoman in the summer of 2020, in the middle of uprisings against state sanctioned anti-Black violence in this country. Javicia Leslie was given the job to helm a brand new character, in an established show and a beloved comic book property, in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic. And in so many ways, she was supported. There were fans who uplifted and supported Javicia, other Black actresses on the network stood together in solidarity, the writers’ room created an entire world for Ryan that was her own, fully Black and fully herself, going as far as casting the legend (there’s no other description) Robin Givens as Ryan’s mother in the its third season. We took to calling Ryan “our Batwoman” — and we all know who our is. Replacing Kate Kane’s straight haired red wig for Ryan’s curly Afro was, in and of itself, iconic.
Still. It took HBO Max, the Warner Brothers streaming network, two years to update the cast of Batwoman on its service — as late as February of this year, it still listed Ruby Rose as top billing. Ryan Wilder was never quite incorporated into the comics with the same ease as other CW-first superheroes. If you google Batwoman right now (as I did before finishing this article) Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane is still roughly half the images, even though she has not appeared in the role since the first season. It’s hard to choke down those small signals of what more could have been done to set Batwoman up for success in the wake of the show’s cancellation — to put your money where your mouth is, if you say you want to support Black talent and storytelling. It’s hard to know that being a Black queer fan is a little like walking with a pebble you can’t shake from your shoe. All the small ways the media landscape reminds you that you’re not the intended audience, even in your own home (and make no mistake, Batwoman was our home). There’s still so much further to go.
Anger, I suppose, is ultimately a stage of grief. It’s one that I hope to push past. So if I could take a moment, I’d like to tell you what Ryan Wilder and Sophie Moore meant to me — beyond their historic record breaking relationship, beyond the minutia of how the television sausage gets made, just me — a Black queer woman who watches tv in her sports bra after a long day of work. Because I hope that this is also their legacy. That this is what we remember.
When I was in third grade in the 90s, my cousin was obsessed with X-Men. Because he was my older cousin, and we spent every day after school together, I became obsessed with whatever he was obsessed with. Which meant I also fell in love with the X-Men, more specifically (because… I am me) I fell in love with Storm. The X-Men were my first comic books, my first trading cards, we watched the cartoon every day and could quote it to each other. When I asked for a Storm action figure that Christmas, my mother looked for one everywhere. It was impossible to find her. It felt like she didn’t exist.
When I was in my twenties and first coming out of the closet in the late aughts and early ‘10s, being a television obsessed nerd, I started devouring queer stories. Every Black queer character I saw, no matter how thinly drawn or poorly written, I etched into my skin like a memory. And not a one of them ever had a love interest that looked like me. The L Word (which, if you’re reading Autostraddle, you already know, but for everyone else who stumbled here — is a foundational text in lesbian television) had only two Black queer characters in its original six-season run to begin with, and it took them over a decade later, during the show’s reboot, to finally show a Black relationship.
I always have to take the long road when spelling things like this out, because otherwise when I say I was in my mid-30s before I could regularly and dependably see two Black women in love together on my television screen, you will think I’m exaggerating or being dramatic. When I tell you that I cried when Ryan talked about the exhaustion of being a Black woman expected to save the world, only to be comforted with a kiss by a Black woman who loved her, really loved her, who had fought her own family’s homophobia to be save herself and knew exactly what that exhaustion means (I did not have enough space to give all due credit to Meagan Tandy’s Sophie Moore in this piece, but she deserves), you will think that I’m doing the most. And you know what? Maybe I am doing the most. Maybe this entire hazy reflection of the trials and successes of one superhero show and its Black woman star is messy and all over the place. Maybe I am taking up too much space in my grief.
But maybe it’s because I wasn’t given permission to take up space begin with.
I don’t often get the chance to write about Batwoman and the indelible way its left me, how it’s worked its way into the marrow of my bones. Usually we leave that to our regular Blerd-in-Charge and Batwoman recapper Nic, who had this to say to fans of the show after learning about its cancellation:
“If you’ve read any of my recaps, then you’ll know I’m not often at a loss for words, but this one is hard, fam. My heart aches for the untold stories; for the unapologetic and oh so Black Wildmoore love we won’t get to see grow; for the change Ryan could have continued to bring to Gotham; for Mary and Luke and Alice’s journeys. In season two, Batwoman became a new show. It became a show for ‘us.’ So while I understand the complexities of television as a business, it’s hard not to take it personally when they take away another diverse show. The thing about us though, we’re not going away. We’ll follow the cast and cheer on whatever they do next, but one thing remains true: Javicia Leslie and Ryan Wilder will forever be our Batwoman. “
Amen, and peace be to Gotham.
NOOOOOO!!!! 😭😡💔 sick of these BS cancellations!!
this news left me spiralling on an already crappy day. i’m in tears and am so furious it was treated this abominably. it broke my heart. thank you sophie, ryan, mary, luke, alice (and kate) and everyone else, i will miss you dearly.
I’m so sad and I’ll miss Wildmoore and Ryan and Sophie individually forever :(
THIS IS BULLSHIT. COMPLETE BULLSHIT!
This show was ACTUALLY good. You can not convince that racism was not a factor. Hopefully another channel might pick it up?? I swear to Janelle Monae that I will never forgive The CW!
“I swear to janelle monae”= comment award😘
Says a white hound….part of the clown world.
Man this one hurt. I’m heartbroken. Rarely do black queer women get the representation that Ryan, Sophie, and Wildmoore gave us along with the other representation that the rest of the cast provided. The show was hitting its stride this season and I hate that it was taken away from us like this. The cast, producers, writers, crew, and fans deserve so much better
This is really sad news :( I’m gonna miss this show and the wonderful actors in it.
carmen, one of my friends shared this and just thank you. this: “And there are no words for that kind of hurt.” i really really needed this. i don’t really know what else to say because this show means so much to me and a lot of people i care about, but thank you for this!
absolutely devastating news. the show, crew, cast and fans deserved better. just grateful for the people i met thru it, but i am heartbroken. the show shoulda been around for another two seasons in my opinion.
oops sorry didn’t mean to reply to u 💜 love u friend
devastating, this show is so good.
absolutely devastating news. the show, crew, cast and fans deserved better. just grateful for the people i met thru it, but i am heartbroken. the show shoulda been around for another two seasons in my opinion.
This really is such a bummer.It’s just such a waste for a show that was really hitting its stride. Has anyone heard if there’s gonna be an effort to shop it out anywhere else?
All the controversial shit aside this was a c+ show at best and sorry but not every single show needs to be made a queen/racial statement but that’s what it is now and that does turn some people off. I’m not in any way biased to any side but I really don’t feel like every single character needs to be turned into an ethnic or gender/sexual hero when they could just be the hero they were originally and always portrayed
There have been tens of thousands of languages spoken by humans, and out of those billions of words I can’t find one strong enough to convey my utter disappointment.
(beleaguered sigh)
I’m completely enraged and heartbroken!!!! How does Batwoman not have the best ratings in the world!??!? HOW. IT’S THE BEST SHOW ON TV.
Ryan and Sophie are.. ugh, just indescribably wonderful, but Imm not gonna write any eulogies for them just yet. Anyone know of any petitions going around? Maybe if there’s enough public backlash, another network will pick it up? Time to check the Twitter….
Well this is unfortunate. I can’t say I was a fan of the show because it did a lot of things I didn’t like, mostly the same bad stuff that all the Arrowverse shows do. But it was fun at times and I liked most of the characters. I had actually given up on the show after the mess that was season 2 but I came back after a while because of the reviews here.
I don’t know what this means for the future of Ryan. Hopefully she shows up at some point but I don’t think there’s been a Batwoman comic is several years now since the Rebirth one got cancelled and aside from a cameo in that one, I don’t think she’s shown up anywhere else. It would be a shame if she goes the way of fellow queer comics character Holly Robinson.
Javicia Leslie did a SPECTACULAR job bringing the character Ryan Wilder/Batwoman to the screen. She is our Batwoman and will always be LOVED, REVERED, & STOOD UP 4. i am ordering season 2 and season 3 on DVD, so ii can see the outtakes, deleted scenes, interviews, & extra ❤️. #LOVEBLACKBATWOMAN
Wish it had been true to the original version of batwoman. Too much has changed to appeal to a larger audience. Good bye batwoman.
This was beautiful Carmen, and I’m hurting just as much. Maybe in the future you guys will be able interview and Javicia and Meagan to talk about the Wildmoore love. They meant so much to us. This one hurts.
I think this blow coming after the travesty that was the Killing Eve finale has just made me realize I’m far to emotionally invested in sapphic fictional characters and they’re survival and happiness to continue to invest in tv show storylines about them. Because it feels like we never stop being courted and letdown. They use us for views and throw us away when they don’t get the views they want or kill us to make a point. It’s too much. The CW has pulled this exact thing one too many times for me to ever trust that network especially again.
But We have Ryan and Sophie. They’re ours now. I guess I’ll try to hold onto that while I attempt not to cry again about something that seems so silly but means so much to me.
for all the reasons you list above, i suggest this is not silly, especially now when there’s alot to be unsure/scared/angry about – having a refuge feels vital to help manage those feelings. so, if you want to, i hope you let yourself cry how much you need to, and get to let go.
We have all experienced a beloved show get cancelled, but this one. This one hurts. With all the talk of The CW being sold off and how long it was taking them to announce if Batwoman was going to be renewed or not, logically I knew the show wasn’t going to be renewed, but I had hope. Ryan, Sophie, Mary, and Luke were that group of friends that I couldn’t wait to catch up with. And I couldn’t wait to see who Alice was annoying now. The show was funny, smart, and deep. Everything you wanted from a show.
And yes, I was here for all the Wildmoore moments, but as someone still coming to terms with my own sexuality, watching Sophie’s journey gave me something not just to visualize but to inspire to. Ryan’s and Sophie’s love made me even consider that I too could have that kind of love someday. Javicia Leslie posted on her Instagram stories this clip from Viola Davis on the View talking about representation. Viola Davis said, “You need to see a physical manifestation of your dream…there is something about seeing someone who looks like you that makes it more tangible.” And that is what this show gave me with Ryan and Sophie. They made a dark skin black woman’s dream of living her truth and that one day she too could fall in love with another dark skin black woman more tangible.
I will miss these characters. I will miss this show, but I am so grateful for this show and the community that formed from it. I probably will go through all the steps of grief and still not get over this cancellation, but this show will always stay with me. And yes Javicia Leslie and Ryan Wilder will always be our Batwoman.
This really sucks. And then they doubled down by cancelling Legends of Tomorrow without any sort of fanfare or final wrap up season.
I think the CW/WB/DC are anxious to kill the Arrowverse and move on as swiftly as possible, and it just blows that these great shows get caught in the crossfire.
Must be the only one feeling that way but thank god for the good news. I hope every DC get cancelled from the CW. The DC universe and their characters deserve so much more than cheap teen tv channel like the CW. Cheap special effects. Cheap costumes. Bad decor. Hope HBO will take care of the next DC comics adaptions and gave a lot more money to productions. Also never forget the antisemitism of the show by completely erasing Jewish culture since season one.
My feelings about “Batwoman”, en total, are beyond ambivalent (S2 was my fave season), but I honestly can’t understand “thank god for the good news” in the midst of so many people in pain. Empathy and compassion: try it!
“Also never forget the antisemitism of the show by completely erasing Jewish culture since season one.” No, it was still there in S2. Beyond that, I can’t really agree that being pro Black Culture (in S2 and S3) equals “antisemitism”. It is a shame that it came to feel like a zero-sum game, however…
I’m very sad to hear that both Batwoman and LOT were cancelled. I loved them both so much…
I am heartbroken
Disclosure: I’m not black, and I’m not American. That said, I’m pis***, and heartbroken. Cannot imagine what a black wlw is feeling right now.
I have just finished binge-watching Batwoman after 2 years of putting it off because I was buried under a pile of study and work in the middle of the pandemic. I have just discovered the beautiful work that these 2 last seasons are, and was anxiously waiting for confirmation on the renewal. Not only because there were two beautiful female leaders in love, but also because I was hooked with the characters. And although not all the developments make the same sense to me, all in all there was a better sense of wholeness than in other shows I had seen these previous years. What is more, the last season left me wanting for the development of Ryan and Sophie’s relationship, the questions about what was going to happen with Alice, the newfound bond between Mary and Alice…Luke’s own personal journey…
I don’t know, I feel so frustrated that this keeps happening over and over again…and I can’t help but wonder if I could have done something different about it myself, and if it would have mattered at all.
Anyway, just venting here. Sending you and everyone else a big hug. As you said, there will be more, but it still hurts.
I am super sad to see this show go.
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<3
Whatever plans they had they might as well reveal all of them
Definitely feel alot About yall taking away 1st black women As Batman And just taking the show away period I’m not gonna say how I really feel But yall should’ve just canceled after rose left if yall was just gonna cancel anyway BUT WE KNEW WE WOULDN’T LAST DEEP DOWN