Big changes are coming to the Arrowverse's Gotham City as Batwoman returns for its second season this month with a new face behind the cowl. With Ruby Rose leaving the superhero series after its inaugural season, the production opted to create an entirely new character to take up the Caped Crusader mantle rather than recast the role. And while Javicia Leslie's Ryan Wilder is ready to defend Gotham as the Scarlet Knight, she finds herself protecting a city on the brink as dark forces have conspired to plunge it into chaos. Here's a quick primer for things to remember ahead of the Batwoman Season 2 premiere.
Approximately three years after Bruce Wayne's mysterious disappearance, his cousin Kate Kane discovered about his secret life as Batman, including his old costume and gear. With crime running rampant, even with Kate's father heading a private security company known as the Crows, to keep Gotham safe, Kate decided to follow in her cousin's footsteps to become her own superhero as Batwoman. Enlisting Lucius Fox's son Luke as her resident tech expert and her stepsister and secret medical professional Mary Hamilton to help, Batwoman made a splash in Gotham, despite Jacob and the Crows condemning her actions.
Jacob's grudge against the Bat-Family came from the loss of his family in a terrorist attack, with Batman nowhere to be found as his wife killed and Kate's twin sister Beth kidnapped. Raised and groomed to become a sadistic killer by the sinister August Cartwright and his son Mouse, Beth developed the supervillain alter ego Mad Alice and led a murderous ensemble known as the Wonderland Gang to terrorize Gotham. Kate and Alice quickly realized each other's true identities, but while Kate tried to save and redeem her sister, Alice kept pushing her twin to embrace her inner darkness. This sibling rivalry escalated quickly, with Alice killing her stepmother Catherine before a horrified Mary and framing Jacob for the crime.
Even beyond her father, Kate maintained a tenuous relationship with one of Jacob's most trusted associates, Sophie Moore. A classmate of Kate's at their military academy, Sophie and Kate embarked on a romantic relationship that forced Kate to abandon her promising military career when news of the relationship leaked. Sophie went on to become a Crow after leaving the service, marrying a husband named Tyler, only to divorce him when it became clear that she was still not over her feelings for Kate after the two reunited. Sophie then learned the true nature of Kate's double life but opted to keep her secret, while Alice arranged for Hush to undergo plastic surgery to resemble Bruce Wayne and help her infiltrate Wayne Tower for Kryptonite in Kate's possession.
Ryan is set to face off against the disguised Hush at the start of Season 2, with her own showdown against Alice expected to immediately follow. As for Kate, the original Batwoman is missing at the start of Season 2, and her allies are scrambling to learn what happened to her. And even as Ryan proves to Kate's old allies, the entire Arrowverse and herself that she can defend Gotham as Batwoman, she faces a new villain in the form of Safiyah Sohail, who is hunting both Alice and Batwoman.
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.