If you're a fan of Batman, chances are you're a fan of Batwoman. The character has enjoyed the spotlight recently with her new Arrowverse series on the CW. But as with all the Arrowverse shows, there are changes big and small in translation from comic book to television series.
Outwardly, Kate Kane looks very similar to what she does in the pages of the DC comics, but scratch the surface and you start to see some big differences. Let's take a look at some ways that the Ruby Rose Batwoman is similar and different to the comic book character.
10 Accurate: Marine
A major part of Kate Kane's backstory in both the comics and the television show is that she trained to be a U.S. Marine. There are some slight differences that will be addressed shortly, but the foundation of the story is essentially the same.
Kate trained to be a Marine, fell in love with a fellow cadet Sophie, and her relationship created a wrinkle in her future with the military. Kate withdraws rather than sacrifice her integrity, but she protects Sophie by refusing to involve her.
9 Inaccurate: Why She Joined
In the comics, becoming a Marine was Kate's dream in life, making her abandoning her career all that much more painful. In the television show, the circumstances are different. Kate doesn't want to become a Marine but wants to join her father Jacob's security firm, The Crows (doesn't sound ominous at all).
He doesn't want her to, so as a compromise she signs up with the military. Things go pretty much as they do in the comics, but after Kate walks away from the Marines, she continues training with the expectation she'll eventually join her dad. In the comics, Kate becomes a bit of a party hound.
8 Accurate: Batman's Absence
When Kate Kane dons the cape and cowl in the comic books, Batman is missing in action. The same is true in the television show. Kate Kane debuted in 2006, as part of the ambitions 52 projects which saw DC titles jump ahead a year, and then turn back to fill in the blanks of what happened.
After the events of Infinite Crisis, which saw the JLA fractured and at each other's throats, Batman left behind Gotham briefly to go on a journey to rediscover himself and his roots. Kate took on the role of Batwoman to emulate him and watch over the city.
7 Inaccurate: Why Batman Left
To be fair, this one is still up in the air. In the comics, Bruce Wayne takes a sabbatical because of Infinite Crisis. In the television show, he just up and leaves and no one knows why. Kate returns home from overseas, having continued her training and being in prime position to take over his role.
The mystery of why Bruce Wayne left lurks in the background as Kate Kane stands in for him and against those who would take advantage of Gotham's seeming defenselessness.
6 Accurate: Cousins
One thing that translated unchanged from the comics to the screen is the fact that Kate Kane and Bruce Wayne are cousins. Kate is the niece of Bruce's mother, Martha Wayne. The Kanes had some wealth, but in the comics, Jacob Kane was in the military himself and not a defense contractor.
In both cases, Kate discovers Batman's true identity and she's motivated to participate in the fight against crime herself. In the comics, Kate is attacked by a mugger and Batman rescues her. This doesn't happen in the show.
5 Inaccurate: They Were Close As Kids
In the television show, Bruce Wayne is an active and present part of young Kate's life, there for her after the tragic incident that took the lives of her mother and sister when she was young.
In the comics, that's not the case at all. The two aren't estranged, but they aren't close. While Bruce maintains a playboy veneer to throw people off the scent of Batman, Kate indulges a lifestyle of drinking, partying and everything that entails. In the show, the Ruby Rose Batwoman is an integral part of Batman's life.
4 Accurate: The Costume
The amazing Batwoman costume from the comics - courtesy Alex Ross - is one of the best things about the character. The red and black color scheme serves her well, and especially when she was kind of a vampire (which seems to be a possibility for the show too).
For the television show, the creative team took one of the simplest and strongest comic book designs of recent years and translated it wholesale, from the bat-symbol, the cape and of course all that amazing red hair.
3
Inaccurate: How Her Family Died
In both the comic and television show, Kate Kane loses her mother and sister tragically. A key difference is in how. In the comic books, it's violent: a terrorist gang kidnaps them and her mother and her sister Beth are killed. Kate survives, though she's traumatized, to say the least.
In the TV show, it's much less sinister. Her family members die when their car is struck by a bus, and the car falls from a bridge. Kate is left alone to be raised by her father, a little more interested in his company than he is her. Bruce Wayne fills the void, making it hard when he disappears later.
2 Accurate: Proud
A key feature of the character undeniably present in both incarnations is Kate Kane's sexuality. At the time of her creation in 2006, Kate was the most high profile LGBTQ character in comic books.
Though it seems as though the decision to make her a lesbian was in some way simply a means to distinguish her from the large, all clad in black and brooding Bat Family, the dividends the choice has paid for fans have been incalculable. The show continues this tradition, not ignoring who Kate is and not changing her story - much.
1 Inaccurate: Villain?
With the current season of Batwoman sadly interrupted due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic (like the rest of the entertainment world), we're not going to get an ending anytime soon to this season's storylines. Some of them have been controversial, to say the least. In both the comics and show, fans find out Kate's sister Beth didn't die. She was held by that terrorist group in the comic and in the show by a man named August Cartwright.
When Kate finds out in the show, she straight up murders Cartwright, crossing one of Batman's uncrossable lines and putting her on the path toward being a villain. This didn't happen in the comics.