There’s a brand new Batwoman coming to the CW series and she’s Black, beautiful, and badass.
Javecia Leslie will take over the lead role in the show’s second season after the abrupt departure of Ruby Rose and the network just unveiled the first glimpses of her in a brand new super hero suit. The redesigned Batsuit was conceptualized by Batwoman costume designer Maya Mani and created by Ocean Drive Leather, the wig created by Janice Workman and makeup styled by Cory Roberts.
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Leslie is making history as the first Black actress to portray Batwoman in a live-action television or film production. Here’s the official character description:
Ryan Wilder is about to become Batwoman. She’s relatable, messy, loyal, a little goofy, and apart from being a lesbian, she couldn’t be more different than the woman who wore the Batsuit before her, billionaire Kate Kane. Ryan, who we meet living in her van with only her plant for company, has been made to feel trapped and powerless by the system her whole life, and believes the Batsuit is the key to breaking out of it. But what she’ll come to discover is that it’s not the suit that makes Ryan Wilder powerful, it’s the woman inside of it who finds her destiny in changing Gotham City for good.
“Ryan’s journey starts from a place of ‘What can this Batsuit do for me?’ But it’s not long before she realizes the power of its symbol and what it can do for everyone else in Gotham City. As Ryan embraces everything that makes her special, she adjusts the suit to fit her physically and figuratively. This meant creating a new body design and new cowl that was undeniably a statement that screamed ‘powerful.’ Maya Mani sent me her drawings and I loved it,” executive producer, Caroline Dries, said in a statement.
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“The wig was something we never perfected in season one, and Janice Workman crushed it with this new take. Javicia and I saw various prototypes of styles and red ombres, and at one point we were trading our own iPad-doodled versions. Janice translated that into what we are looking at now. When I see it, I smile. It makes me feel inspired.”
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