As Javicia Leslie takes over as the lead for Batwoman, with Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane exiting the Arrowverse, it’s likely that new Batwoman Ryan Wilder will get a new Bat-suit. Since Batwoman’s debut in the DC TV universe back in the Elseworlds crossover, the original Bat-suit has seen multiple changes. Even during the first season of the DC drama, viewers saw the costume evolve as new aspects were added while old ones were removed. The design of Kate’s utility belt was altered, and even the cowl had a sudden change in the latter half of Batwoman season 1, when Kate suddenly didn’t have a chin strap attached to her mask.
All that is known currently about Kate Kane’s Arrowverse departure is that it will she will be mysteriously disappearing, according to showrunner Caroline Dries. That is where Leslie’s new character Ryan Wilder will enter the picture. With Ryan being an original character who isn’t based on anyone from the comics, the writers will have a lot of freedom in where to take her as she puts on the cowl. As Batwoman will surely change significantly, a new costume would help reflect the coming changes with Ryan becoming Gotham City’s new protector.
Given how few story details have been revealed thus far, there are a number of directions for the production to take with Ryan’s costume as she becomes the new Batwoman. The simplest option is to just give her Kate’s old costume without any change whatsoever. But since that design was specifically something that was connected to Kate, Ryan should be able to have a version that reflects her character and her viewpoints of wearing the Bat-symbol on her chest. What is likely to happen is that Ryan will have a significantly modified version of Kate’s costume. Not only does it make it easier from a budget standpoint, but it also keeps a bit of the original Batwoman intact within the show. The first element that Ryan’s suit could do without is the infamous red wig that Kate wore as part of her disguise.
Fan artist Scary Krystal gave a great example of how Leslie could look without the wig, instead letting her real hair be free in the cowl. There could also be a radical change to the color scheme, as the red aspect of the whole costume has always been something that was specific to Kate. In the comics, the red element was a way for the writers to acknowledge Kabbalah, since Kate is Jewish. Similarly to how Nightwing’s main color is blue, letting the Bat-suit have a color that’s more associated with Ryan would make the suit more personal to the character. Having a different color on the Bat-symbol, which symbolizes something personal to Ryan, would help to distinguish her from her predecessor.
Another major aspect that the costume designers could take advantage of this time is the cape. In the comics, the cape’s interior was completely red, whereas on the show there was only a touch of red at the bottom of the cape. This time the designers could give the interior full color to help spice the suit up a bit. The same goes for the boots, as The CW’s version of Kate’s costume was missing her red footwear from the comics. Given that Ryan is said to be completely different from Kate, having Ryan have her own main color could be a driving factor to help make her Batwoman costume mark the shift from one character to the next.
