Gotham City's newest Batwoman meets Kate Kane's old team in preview photos for Batwoman Season 2's second episode, titled "Prior Criminal History."
The photos reveal more of Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) as she deals with life on the streets of Gotham and, somehow, ends up in the Batcave confronting Luke and Mary. Other side plots seem to continue the search for Kate's whereabouts, with Jacob and Sophie investigating an unknown location in their Crows uniforms. At the same time, Alice appears to be coming to terms with Ryan's Batwoman and conducting her own investigation into the matter, albeit by confronting Mary and interrogating Julia Pennyworth at knifepoint.
Following Ruby Rose's departure as Batwoman's lead character, Season 2 will introduce Leslie's Ryan as an unexpected successor who ends up discovering Kate Kane's Batsuit. After donning the costume to fight crime, this decision will force Ryan to cross paths with Kate's friends, family and formally missing sister-turned-psychotic crime boss, all of whom have unresolved conflicts from Season 1. She will also have to deal with a number of new threats from Batman's Rogue Gallery, including Victor Zsasz and Black Mask.
In addition, Season 2 will introduce a major antagonist in the form of Safiyah Sohail, someone whose presence was regularly teased throughout Season 1. From what's been hinted at so far, Safiyah and Alice have bad blood due to some unknown event from their past and, while she initially hired Julia to retrieve Lucias Fox's journal, Julia later renegaded on Safiyah's deal after learning that it contained secrets on how to pierce the Batsuit's armor.
Read the synopsis for "Prior Criminal History" below:
After her quick spin in the Batgear, Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) is back to facing the daily challenges of life as herself. Meanwhile, Alice (Rachel Skarsten) has a new, devious plan to get the attention of both Gotham and Safiyah (guest star Shivaani Ghai). With Kate still missing and the city in an uprising, Luke (Camrus Johnson) and Mary (Nicole Kang) are desperate to find a stand in. In a pinch, Ryan dons the suit again and comes face-to-face with Alice for the first time. Back at Crows Headquarters, Sophie and Commander Kane try to uncover who may have had a vendetta against Kate. Carl Seaton directed the episode written by James Stoteraux and Chad Fiveash (#202).
Batwoman stars Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott and Nicole Kang. Season 2 premieres on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.