There's a new girl in Gotham City.
Batwoman just released its first full-length trailer for season two and it's clear that the absence of Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) is hitting the city hard. While Luke (Camrus Johnson), Mary (Nicole Kang) and Sophie (Meagan Tandy) are all in tears over the disappearance of their friend, Ryan (Javicia Leslie) seems to find the batsuit in the river and she isn't quite sure what to do with it.
Alice (Rachel Skarsten), meanwhile, is ready for a challenge.
"I met the new girl," she says. "She's gonna be handful."
Ryan doesn't immediately put on the suit, but we soon see that she not only puts it on, but she connects with Luke and makes some alterations that seem to alarm him as the keeper of all the bat-stuff.
But as Mary says, "the city needs a Batwoman," so they've got to make this work.
Watch the trailer below!
During the Batwoman panel at DC Fandome in September, showrunner Caroline Dries said that Kate's disappearance and Ryan's rise as Batwoman would take center stage in season two.
"We have two major stories this season—the first one is, where's Kate?" Dries said. "Is she alive? Is she dead? Is she missing? Is she on the run? Is she held captive? Is she lost? These are all huge mysteries that push us deep into the season...It will be shocking and awesome and amazing. And then obviously we have a new hero rising into Gotham."
At least one thing about Kate's disappearance is clear: She's not dead. Rose left the show in May, Leslie was cast as the new Batwoman in July, and in June, Dries promised that while the new Batwoman would be a brand new character, Kate would not be killed off.
"As a lesbian who's been working as a writer for the past 15 years, I'm well aware of the ‘Bury Your Gays' trope and I have no interest in participating in it," she said in a statement on Twitter. "That's why it's important to me as the showrunner to clarify any misinformation out there about Kate Kane and recasting Batwoman. Like you, I love Kate Kane—she's the reason I wanted to do the show. We'll never erase her. In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of season two. I don't want to give away any of our surprises, but to all our devoted fans, please know that LGBTQ+ justice is at the very core of what Batwoman is and we have no intention of abandoning that."
The question of where Kate actually is and how Ryan comes to replace her will be answered when Batwoman premieres Sunday, Jan. 17 on The CW.