‘Batwoman’ Cancelled After 3 Seasons By The CW
‘Batwoman‘ might be good at taking down Gotham’s criminal underworld, but she’s no match for TV executives, as The CW cancels the superhero drama after 3 seasons… (and no, before anyone asks, we don’t know when E4 will get around to airing the second half of Season 3…)
The most recent third season of ‘Batwoman’ followed Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) as she shed her parole for the Batsuit and her van for the Batcave to carry out the legacy of Batwoman and protect Gotham’s underserved communities. Her journey continues as she and the Bat Team focus on finding Batman’s scattered trophies, a collection of objects seized from Gotham’s most infamous villains, before they land in pernicious hands.
The news of the cancellation came in a Tweet from showrunner Caroline Dries. “Just got the sad news that Batwoman will not be seeing an S4,” she wrote. “I am bummed, but full of gratitude. What an honor to make 51 episodes. So many inspiring, brilliant people contributed to this series. Thank you producers, cast and crew. Thank you, fans! We love you.”
It’s a rare move for The CW to outright cancel a show once it is past its first season, however, things are a little different at the network this year. Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount, who co-own the network, are looking to sell it off to someone, which has rather changed the dynamic of things. In the past, we’ve described The CW as the “fluffiest” of the networks, due to their policy of renewing nearly every show, and usually giving series a final season send-off when they do bring down the axe. With the potential sale of the network, coupled with management changes at the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery, The CW has been way more cautious in 2022. Back in March they renewed ‘The Flash‘, ‘Superman & Lois‘, and ‘Riverdale‘, along with ‘Walker‘, ‘Kung Fu‘, ‘All American‘, and ‘Nancy Drew‘, but left a number of the lower-rated shows on the table. They included ‘Legacies’, ‘Charmed’, ‘The 4400’, and ‘Dynasty’, alongside DC shows ‘Legends Of Tomorrow’, ‘Batwoman’ and ‘Naomi’. ‘Batwoman’ is the first of those “on the bubble” shows to get the axe.
Whilst ‘Batwoman’ is gone, there is potentially a new Gotham series on the horizon in the form of ‘Gotham Knights’ which comes from James Stoteraux, and Chad Fiveash, who all worked on ‘Batwoman’. The potential series is set in the wake of Bruce Wayne’s murder, where his rebellious adopted son forges an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader. And as the city’s most wanted criminals, this renegade band of misfits must fight to clear their names. But in a Gotham with no Dark Knight to protect it, the city descends into the most dangerous it’s ever been. However, hope comes from the most unexpected of places as this team of mismatched fugitives will become its next generation of saviours known as the Gotham Knights.
The ‘Gotham Knights’ series is still only a pilot right now, and hasn’t yet been picked up to series… However, the rumours are that The CW are looking to only pick up two out of the four possible DC shows – ‘Legends Of Tomorrow’, ‘Batwoman’, ‘Naomi’ and ‘Gotham Knights’. With ‘Batwoman’ out of the way, that leaves a showdown between the ageing ‘Legends’, freshman series ‘Naomi’, and the potential newcomer for that second DC spot… We’ll have to see who wins over the next few weeks.
‘Batwoman’ starred Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson, Victoria Cartagena, Robin Givens, and Nick Creegan. Based on the characters from DC, BATWOMAN is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television with executive producers Greg Berlanti, Caroline Dries, Geoff Johns, Chad Fiveash, James Patrick Stoteraux and Sarah Schechter.
‘Batwoman‘ aired on The CW in the USA, and airs… when they get around to it… on E4 in the UK.
