Batwoman: Javicia Leslie Says She’s Ready to be Gotham’s New Hero

Javicia Leslie has made her debut as Ryan Wilder on Batwoman Season 2 Episode 1, “What Happened to Kate Kane?,” and so now we can discuss how this new hero is going to shake up Gotham City.

Batwoman star Javicia Leslie spoke with reporters during a virtual press conference about Ryan’s journey.

Once she discovers the batsuit in the wreckage of Kate’s plane crash, Ryan immediately understands how important and life-changing it is. For her, it means she finally has the power to get justice for her mother, who was murdered by Alice’s Wonderland gang.

“What’s interesting about that dynamic is that people do things, and sometimes they don’t know how much it can affect other people,” Leslie said. “And I think that for a lot of Alice’s life, she’s done whatever she wanted to do, and there might have been one specific goal, but she didn’t know how that goal impacted other people.”

Though Ryan will have to work through a steep learning curve, she and Alice are definitely on a collision course.

“I think this season is going to make her [Alice] face a lot of the things that she has done in her past,” Leslie continued.

“She has unleashed a lot of evil on Gotham, but the story never follows the homeless person that was in the alley that got affected by something she did. So now, she’s being met with the impact of her actions. It’s definitely going to be a very interesting relationship between the two. It’s definitely going to be a huge part of the season, in Ryan’s journey, in Alice’s journey.”

Though she’s new to the hero world, Ryan already has one of the most consistent qualities down: she’s keeping a secret about an injury. After being hit by a kryptonite bullet, she claimed she was fine, but that’s not completely true.

“It 100% is going to affect Ryan’s system,” Leslie said. “But you also have to remember, she’s a very strong and proud woman. Her entire focus right now is to prove that she can be Batwoman, so she’s not going to admit the fact that she’s going through something.”

“And that’s really going to be a huge issue because she needs help, and she just won’t admit it. She doesn’t want to admit it because she doesn’t want to feel like she’s less than,” Leslie continued. “She’s been compared to Kate Kane so much that she just wants to show that she’s strong and she deserves to be able to wear this suit and save the world.”

Kate’s disappearance will loom large over the season, with Ryan feeling the constant comparison. Much like her character, Leslie really felt the hero become hers once the batsuit fully became hers.

“I felt a shift in myself and my ownership of the character in Ryan’s battle,” she said. “The first two episodes, or the first two and a half, you feel like you’re walking in someone else’s shoes: red hair, a red wig that doesn’t even look good on me and my complexion. You feel like it’s not you, you’re not comfortable.”

“Before we actually started shooting, [executive producer] Caroline [Dries] had already told me that we were going to design a different suit for Ryan, but it would have to kind of develop naturally. So I started to be fitted for my new suit while filming in the previous suit,” Leslie explained.

“It was weird because I was playing in one suit, knowing that this other suit was getting made. But once that suit was made, I remember the first time I tried it on in the fitting. It just felt like, ‘this is it.’”

Whenever someone new is cast in a Batman project, the first question they’re asked is about the suit, so the importance of the new batsuit is not lost on Leslie.

“The suit represents a legacy,” Leslie stated. “I think that at the end of the day, it’s not about the last name. It’s about the character of the person. It’s about the morality of the person,” she explained. “And Ryan has that. She may not come from wealth or prestige, but she’s a person that knows what’s right and what’s wrong and will always fight for what’s right.”

For die-hard Bat-fans, Leslie wasn’t the only major debut on the Season 2 premiere. The Batmobile made its first appearance when Tommy stole it from the Batcave. Luke didn’t even know it was there, but Ryan will be using it from now on.

“It’s super-fun. I don’t have anything to compare it to because it’s the only mode of transportation I’ve used since being in the show, other than the van that I live in,” said Leslie. “It’s super-dope. Those cars are so powerful, just in an essence. Before you even drive, just you feel the energy of it and the way that our team has really designed it.”

“Every part of it feels epic, the screens, and how you’re able to press this button and then a missile comes out, or you press this button and you go faster or some other type of layer covers the car,” she continued.

“That’s what I watched when I was growing up, when I watched Batman. That car goes from a car to a motorcycle,” Leslie said. “So to be able to be a part of that at all is super fun and epic. And it’s super cool that young kids are going to see this Batwoman in the Batmobile because I know we didn’t get to play with that in the first season.”

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What are your hopes for this season of Batwoman? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and be sure to catch up with our review of Batwoman Season 2 Episode 1, “What Happened to Kate Kane?,” right here.

Batwoman airs Sunday at 8 pm on The CW.

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