Batwoman (Kate Kane)

This article is about the current Batwoman. For the original Batwoman, see Batwoman (Kathy Kane).

"Katherine Kane" redirects here. For the Irish botanist, see Katherine Sophia Kane.

For the attorney general of Pennsylvania, see Kathleen Kane.

Not to be confused with Batgirl, another DC Comics superhero with a similar name.

Batwoman
Textless variant cover of Detective Comics #860 (December 2009). Art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	(As Kate Kane)52 #7 (August 2006) (As Batwoman)52 #11 (September 2006)
Created by	Geoff Johns Grant Morrison Greg Rucka Mark Waid Keith Giffen
In-story information
Alter ego	Katherine Rebecca "Kate" Kane
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Batman Incorporated D.E.O.
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Peak human physical condition Highly skilled martial artist Highly skilled detective Utilizes high-tech equipment and weapons

Batwoman (Kate Kane) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is a wealthy heiress who becomes inspired by the superhero Batman and chooses, like him, to put her wealth and resources towards a campaign to fight crime as a masked vigilante in her home of Gotham City. Batwoman was introduced in 2006 in the seventh week of the publisher's year-long 52 weekly comic book. Introduced as Kate Kane, the modern Batwoman began operating in Gotham City in Batman's absence following the events of the company-wide crossover Infinite Crisis (2005). The modern Batwoman is written as being of Jewish descent and as a lesbian in an effort by DC editorial staff to diversify its publications and better connect to modern-day readership. Described as the highest-profile gay superhero to appear in stories published by DC, Batwoman's sexual orientation drew wide media attention following her reintroduction, as well as both praise and criticism from the general public.

The modern character as depicted in comics works relatively independently of Batman, but has gained considerable profile in recent years, both within the DC Comics publishing schedule and the publisher's fictional universe. She since had several runs in her own eponymous Batwoman monthly comic book and has had stints in the lead role in Detective Comics, the flagship Batman comic book for which DC Comics is named. The Kate Kane version of Batwoman was later adapted for the 2016 direct-to-video animated film Batman: Bad Blood. Ruby Rose portrays the character in her live-action debut during The CW's 2018 Arrowverse crossover "Elseworlds". Rose is set to star in her own television series set in the Arrowverse.

Publication history

Kate Kane's debut in 52 #7 (June 2006). Kane converses with Renee Montoya. Layout by Keith Giffen. Art by Ken Lashley and Draxhall Jump Studios.

File:Batwoman (52 11).png

Kane's debut as Batwoman in 52 #11 (July 2006). Cover art by J.G. Jones.

The limited series Infinite Crisis (2005), written as a sequel to the 1985 maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, altered DC Comics continuity. Subsequently, all comic book titles published by DC Comics skip forward one year and a new maxi-series entitled 52 retroactively chronicles the 52 weeks which directly followed Infinite Crisis. When DC editors called for a redesign of Batwoman, comic book artist Alex Ross drew inspiration from the modified Batgirl costume he designed for Barbara Gordon, seven years prior to Kate Kane's debut in the limited comic book series 52. Ross and comic book author Paul Dini initially planned to revive the former Batgirl Barbara Gordon using an updated version of the character's original costume, with red accents in place of the traditional yellow. However, since Gordon served as one of a very small number of disabled superheroes of DC Comics as Oracle, DC's editorial staff decided to revitalize the original Batwoman instead. In an interview with Newsarama, Ross states "They had me change the mask and hair to make it a bit more Batwoman, rather than Batgirl...I pointed out to them that the mask makes her look like the Huntress a little overall—but there weren't many options. The original mask that I had in there when it was to be a Batgirl design was the complete head cover that we've seen, so they did need something different from that."

Unlike the Silver Age Kathy Kane, who was romantically attracted to Batman, the new version of Kane is a lesbian, as well as Bruce Wayne's maternal cousin (detective comics #934) . Her sexual orientation was announced at the same time the character was revealed in the spring of 2006. Stories appeared on television news outlets such as CNN, general news magazines such as USA Today, and gay culture magazines such as Out. The modern Katherine "Kate" Kane made her first comic book appearance in issue #7 of the maxi-series 52 (2006), where Kane is revealed to have been romantically involved with Renee Montoya (also retconed as lesbian in 2006's Gotham Central), a former Gotham City Police detective (who later takes up the mantle of the Question after the original hero dies). When questioned about the editorial decision to make Batwoman a gay character in an interview with Wizard Entertainment, DC Comics Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Dan DiDio stated "It was from conversations we’ve had for expanding the DC Universe, for looking at levels of diversity. We wanted to have a cast that is much more reflective of today's society and even today's fanbase. One of the reasons we made her gay is that, again when you have the Batman Family—a series of characters that aren’t super-powered and inhabit the same circle and the same city—you really want to have a point of difference. It was really important to me to make sure every character felt unique."

Batwoman's sexual orientation initially gathered mixed reviews, ranging from praise to outrage. A reviewer at Out asserts "Batwoman will be the highest profile gay superhero to ever grace the pages of DC Comics." Although several LGBT organizations such as GLAAD have praised DC Comics for attempting to diversify their characters, some have observed that Batwoman is not the first gay or lesbian character to appear in comic books, nor is she the only lesbian to be associated with the Batman series.

In the character's civilian identity as a socialite, Katherine Kane is acquainted with Bruce Wayne and is friends with a doctor named Mallory. She is presented as having porcelain white skin, several tattoos, and a clothing style defined as punk-psychobilly-goth in her civilian persona. The character is also Jewish, and celebrates Hanukkah with Renee Montoya during the events of 52. Her father is an ex-colonel and in Detective Comics #854, it is stated she is the cousin of Bette "Flamebird" Kane. The younger Kate also has a stepmother named Catherine Kane, making Catherine the aunt of Bette. At the 2008 New York Comic Con, it was announced that Batwoman would be among the characters appearing in a new Justice League comic book written by James Robinson. That year, Batwoman briefly took over as the lead character in Detective Comics, starting with #854. with DC saying at the 2009 New York Comic Con that she would be DC Comics' highest profile gay superhero. Detective Comics #854 would introduce Alice, a new villain for Kate who is also revealed to be her twin sister, Elizabeth Kane.

From 2010, the character began appearing in the self-titled series Batwoman. After an introductory "zero" issue in 2010, the series launched fully in 2011 with Batwoman #1 along with DC's company-wide renumbering of its titles that year. Writers J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman chose to expand Kate's supporting cast both in terms of her family (the Kanes, including Elizabeth, Bette and other relatives), and the "Batman Family" she is more loosely connected to. Issue seventeen was also a milestone as it featured Kate proposing to her girlfriend, Maggie Sawyer.

In September 2013, co-authors J.H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman announced that they would leave Batwoman after the December issue because of conflicts with DC over storylines. They remarked that they were not allowed to expand Killer Croc's back story, keep their original ending, or show Kate and Maggie getting married. This announcement follows a February 2013 announcement that Batwoman #17 will feature the proposal between Kate and Maggie. DC Comics announced that Batwoman cannot get married because "heroes shouldn't have happy personal lives".

In December 2014, it was announced that the series would be cancelled in March at issue forty, along with twelve other series.

In 2016, it was announced that Batwoman would be one of the lead characters in the DC Comics Rebirth revamp of Detective Comics, which returned to its original numbering with issue #934.

Fictional character biography

File:Batwoman's (Kate Kane) debut.jpg

Kate Kane battles Whisper A'Daire's bestial followers as Batwoman. Art by Keith Giffen.

Origins and early career

In 52 #7, Kate Kane is introduced (although she is referred to as Kathy on several occasions). No Origins titles have been presented for Kate Kane; her fictional backstory is presented in Detective Comics through the use of exposition and flashbacks. In their early childhood, Katherine Rebecca "Kate" Kane and her sister Elizabeth "Beth" Kane were identical twins and were very close to each other. On their twelfth birthday their military father could not come home so Kate and Beth were taken by their mother, Gabrielle "Gabi" Kane, to an expensive restaurant for chocolate and waffles, their favorite dish. On the way to the restaurant, a group of gunmen attacked the family and took them hostage, killing their bodyguard in the process. After learning of her family's kidnapping, Kate's father Colonel Jacob "Jake" Kane led a rescue mission to save his captured family, which ended with Kate's mother executed and Beth apparently killed after being caught in the crossfire between the kidnappers and soldiers. Years later, Jake marries Catherine Hamilton Kane. Kate is attending the United States Military Academy, West Point, where she receives excellent grades and ranks at the top of her class. However, when it is alleged that she is in a lesbian relationship with another student, Kate's commanding officer asks her to disavow the allegation. Telling the officer that she refuses to lie and violate the code of the Academy, Kate admits to being lesbian and is forced to leave the school. When she confronts her father with the news, he supports her and affirms that she upheld her honor and integrity. She then moves back to Gotham City where she attends college and pursues a wild social lifestyle, consisting of parties and tattoos. Kate is eventually pulled over for speeding by a young Renee Montoya, who was just a traffic cop at this point. The two date for several months and break up following a fight where Kate berates Renee for keeping her sexuality hidden from her colleagues and family; after Renee expresses concern about Kate's lack of direction, when it's revealed she's not been attending college. While attempting to call Renee and apologize for her behavior, Kate is attacked by a mugger who wants her wallet and cell phone. Using her military training, Kate easily defeats the criminal just as Batman arrives and helps her off the ground. She is then shown fixated by the Bat Signal as Batman departs the scene.

Inspired by her encounter with the caped crusader, Kate begins fighting crime using military body armor and weaponry stolen from her father's military base. After being confronted by Jake, Kate accepts his offer for assistance and begins an intense two years of training across the globe with her father's military friends. Upon returning to Gotham, Kate discovers that her father has created a Batsuit for her, along with an arsenal of experimental weaponry based on Batman's known gadgetry and a bunker hidden in the Kane home. The first reference to the modern Batwoman is made by the Penguin in Detective Comics #824 who suggests Batman bring a date to the opening of his club, asking, "Why don't you bring that new Batwoman? I hear she's kind of hot." In 52 #7 (2006) the new Batwoman is introduced. Kane is revealed to have been intimately involved with former Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya and is heiress to one of the wealthiest families in Gotham, owning that which the Wayne family does not. In her third appearance in issue #11 of 52 entitled "Batwoman Begins," Kane assists Montoya and her partner the Question in a mystery revolving around a warehouse owned by Kane's family. When Montoya and the Question are attacked sometime later by Whisper A'Daire's shapeshifting minions, Kane intervenes as Batwoman and rescues them.

In 52 #28 (2006), after Montoya learns that the "Book of Crime," a sacred text of Intergang, contains a prophecy foretelling the brutal murder of the "twice named daughter of Kane," she and the Question return to Gotham, joining forces with Batwoman in issue #30 in order to avert Intergang's plans. Batwoman later appears in a story written by Greg Rucka for the DC Infinite Holiday Special (2006). As Batwoman continues the case, she is joined by Nightwing, who has recently returned to Gotham and becomes infatuated with her. On Christmas Eve, he gives her an 'official' Batarang. She also celebrates Hanukkah with Renee, and the two kiss shortly before Christmas. This story introduced some of Kane's background, including the fact that she is Jewish. In issue #48 of 52 (2007), when Intergang realizes that the image of Batwoman in the Crime Bible and the cited "twice-named daughter of Cain" were one and the same, they ransack Kane's apartment, kidnapping her with the intention to sacrifice her. Montoya arrives too late to stop the ritual, finding Kate bound and gagged to an altar as prophet Bruno Mannheim plunges a knife through her heart. In the ensuing confrontation, the freed Batwoman pulls the knife out of her own chest to stab Mannheim, and then collapses in Renee's arms. She survives her wounds after Renee stops the bleeding in time, however, and as she recuperates in her penthouse, Renee, disguised in her new alter ego as the Question, shines the Bat-Signal into her apartment and asks, "Are you ready?"

2007–2009: Countdown, Final Crisis

Batwoman subsequently appears in the fifty-two issue weekly series Countdown, intended to act as a prelude to DC's summer crossover event the following year. Batwoman appears in Countdown #39 (2007), after the Question confronts Trickster and Pied Piper, having trailed them from the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge nightclub. Batwoman also makes an appearance in the miniseries Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood (2007) alongside the Question. Batwoman is seen again on the final page of Grant Morrison's Final Crisis #3 (2008), one month after the Anti-Life Equation was released, as a new Female Fury along with Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Giganta. Her costume bears resemblance to the dead Fury Mad Harriet. She is also seen in Final Crisis: Revelations #3 attacking the Question after having just been infected with the Anti-Life Equation.

2009–2010: Detective Comics lead feature

Following the events of Final Crisis and Battle for the Cowl, in which Bruce Wayne has supposedly died and is replaced by Dick Grayson, Kate becomes the lead of Detective Comics from issue 854 to 863. In the first story, entitled "Elegy", Batwoman is seen investigating the arrival of a new leader of the Religion of Crime to Gotham. She briefly meets Batman (it is intentionally left ambiguous whether or not it is Dick Grayson or Bruce Wayne) to discuss her findings. Kate demonstrates greater knowledge of the Religion of Crime, and even corrects Batman by saying there's 13 and not 12 covens of the religion in Gotham. Batman concedes the case to her, and comments on the length of her hair (though panels on the same page reveal the long red wig hides her actual hair, styled short).

Aspects of her personal life are also revealed, including her relationship with her ex-colonel father; serving as Batwoman's ally, whom she addresses as "sir." The strain of her late night vigilante activity has also taken a toll on her romantic relationships. Her lateness and night time absences are interpreted by her girlfriend as an on the side liaison with another woman. She breaks the relationship off as she believes Kate is not ready to commit to an exclusive relationship. A past traumatic incident is also alluded to which she claims still haunts her. As she vaguely describes the experience, her face is shown superimposed on the page over a restrained girl with a bag over her head. She later tracks down the new leader of the Religion of Crime: an elaborately costumed woman named Alice. Over the course of the conflict that ensues, Batwoman observes that Alice only speaks in quotations from Lewis Carroll, believing herself to be Alice Liddell. Alice denies a connection to the Mad Hatter.

While attending a party thrown for the Gotham Police Department, Kate meets and flirts with detective Maggie Sawyer, and runs into her cousin Bette Kane (better known as the Teen Titans member Flamebird). Kate is apparently unaware of her cousin's vigilante activities, and inadvertently hurts her feelings when she cuts her off in the middle of a conversation to answer her cell phone. While dancing with Maggie, Kate discovers that Alice has kidnapped her father and plans to destroy Gotham by spreading a deadly airborne chemical from a hijacked airplane, thus succeeding where Mannheim failed. Batwoman boards the plane and defeats Alice's subordinates, eventually stopping the plot and rescuing her father in the process. However, Alice is accidentally thrown from the plane, only to be caught by Batwoman. Alice then shocks her by saying that Batwoman has "Our father's eyes," apparently revealing that she is in fact Kate's sister Beth (who was believed to have been killed years ago). With Batwoman stunned by the revelation, Alice stabs her in the wrist with a knife. Batwoman is forced to release her grip, sending Alice to her apparent demise in the river below.

In the aftermath of this discovery, Kate locks herself in her crime lab and tries to come to terms with what just happened, while the police struggle in vain to find any sign of Alice's corpse. These scenes are depicted amongst numerous flashback sequences that comprise most of the issue. Throughout them, back story is provided from her childhood that depicts Kate, her twin sister Beth, and their mother being kidnapped. While Kate's father is able to rescue her, it appears as though both her sister and mother have been killed by the time he arrives.

Batwoman appears in the miniseries Cry for Justice, a set-up for a new ongoing Justice League title. When the Justice League of America splits up following Bruce Wayne's death and a disastrous confrontation with the Shadow Cabinet, Green Lantern Hal Jordan leads a group of superheroes to Gotham in order to track down the supervillain known as Prometheus. Kate is shown stalking the heroes from the rooftops after they encounter Clayface. Batwoman later contacts both Leagues at the JLA Watchtower, informing them she encountered and engaged supervillain Delores Winters, who mysteriously collapsed and died right as she was about to be taken into custody. The heroes request that Kate bring the body up to them, but she declines, telling them that she is much too busy due to a rash of criminal uprisings going on in Gotham. Firestorm is then sent to retrieve the corpse from Kate and bring it to the team, who discover that Dolores was forced into fighting by means of a mind control device. In a text piece included in Justice League: Cry for Justice #6, writer James Robinson revealed that Batwoman was initially intended to be part of his new Justice League line-up, but this plan fell apart after Cry For Justice was shortened into a miniseries rather than an ongoing title. This explains why Batwoman is present on the cover of the first issue, and why she was initially said to be a member of the team when the book was first announced.

Later, Kate appears as part of Batman and Robin: Blackest Knight. Batwoman is kidnapped by cultists and taken to London in order for her to once again be sacrificed. She is sealed within a coffin and taken underground to the last remaining Lazarus Pit in order for the ritual to begin. She is saved by the timely intervention of Dick Grayson and British superheroes Knight and Squire. After learning that Grayson plans on placing Bruce Wayne's corpse into the pit in order to revive him, Kate strongly protests, but he simply ignores her. True to Kate's warnings, Bruce (in reality an insane clone created by Darkseid) emerges from the Pit and attacks the heroes. As the battle takes place, the cultists who kidnapped Kate detonate explosives surrounding the Pit, causing a massive cave-in. Grayson discovers Kate, buried alive and with extensive injury to her spine and legs, and tries to help her. Kate is healed after being placed inside the Pit, and she returns to Gotham with the others. Before leaving to return to her home, Grayson flirts with Kate by telling her that he has a thing for red-haired crime-fighters (a reference to his previous love interests, Barbara Gordon and Starfire), apparently unaware of Kate's sexuality.

Batwoman also begins hunting down a crazed serial killer known as the Cutter, who has been abducting young women and cutting off parts of their face in order to create the perfect woman. He eventually kidnaps Bette, but Kate tracks the killer to his lair and attacks him. During the fight, Batwoman reveals her identity to Bette when she mentions her tennis career, and in the aftermath Bette is seen in her Flamebird outfit, saying that she wants to be Kate's new partner.

2010–2015: New 52 self-titled series

Batwoman
File:Batwoman 01 2011.jpg Promotional art for Batwoman #1 (September 2011). Art by J. H. Williams III.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly.
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	September 2011 – April 2015
No. of issues	40, plus two Annuals and two #0 issues
Creative team
Written by	Greg Rucka J. H. Williams III W. Haden Blackman Marc Andreyko
Artist(s)	J. H. Williams III Jock Amy Reeder Jeremy Haun

In 2010, DC announced that Batwoman would star in a series with art by J. H. Williams III, who would also co-write the series with writer W. Haden Blackman. Artist Amy Reeder Hadley would also contribute art, alternating story arcs with Williams. The series' introductory "zero issue" was released on November 24, 2010. The launch of Batwoman #1 was originally scheduled for February 2011, then delayed until spring; in early March it was announced that Batwoman #1 would be released sometime in Fall 2011, as part of the New 52 rebooted DC Universe. In September 2013, J. H. Williams III announced that he together with Blackman quit the series after alleging creative difference with the producers, citing a sudden change to not allow Batwoman to marry her partner as Williams and Blackman had planned.

In the New 52's rebooted DC's continuity, Batwoman appears as a member of an all-female team of heroes created by Wonder Woman to repel a faux-alien invasion of Washington DC masterminded by Professor Ivo. After the battle is over, Kate asks Wonder Woman if she'd like to accompany Kate and the other heroines to a bar in order to celebrate, but Wonder Woman politely turns them down in order to attend the college graduation ceremony of her old friend, Vanessa Kapatelis.

In Batman Inc. Batwoman later appears while tracking down a gangster named Johnny Valentine, who is wanted for his connection to the murders of three marines. She tracks him to a local circus, the same one once owned by her predecessor, Kathy Kane. While chasing Valentine through a haunted house, Batwoman is attacked by what appears to be Kathy's ghost. Batwoman struggles with and eventually defeats the "ghost", who is revealed to be nothing more than a blonde-haired female assassin clad in a wig and a replica of Kathy's costume. Kate realizes that she recognizes the assassin, and asks her father to run a facial-recognition scan. While Kate restrains her attacker, her father reveals that Valentine is connected to a supervillain operating out of South America, and tells Kate that she needs to get down there to find out what is going on.

2016–present: DC Rebirth

In the Detective Comics title, Batman recruits Batwoman to help run a "boot camp" for young heroes, consisting of Red Robin, Orphan, Spoiler, and Clayface. Batwoman is essentially Batman's co-lead in the first arc (#934-#940), which depicts the team fighting a group that mimics Batman's methods. The next two issues are part of the crossover event Night of the Monster Men. Issues 943-947 cover a group of "collateral damage" individuals called the Victim Syndicate, attempting to put an end to Batman's vigilantism. Issues 948 and 949 are collectively called Batwoman Begins. These two issues are a prologue for Batwoman getting her own title again.

February 2017's Batwoman: Rebirth #1 leaded into March 2017's Batwoman #1.

Alternate versions

• In the Flashpoint universe, Kate Kane is a member of Team 7, an elite unit of soldiers led by Grifter. Kate, along with most of the team, is killed during a botched attack on a terrorist training camp in Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance #2 (July 2011).
• In Nightwing: The New Order, Nightwing ends an ongoing feud between superpowered beings by activating a device that depowers ninety percent of the super powered population. This builds to a future where super powers are outlawed and any super powered being must take inhibitor medications or be contained and studied should the medications not work on them. In this reality, Kate lost faith in vigilantism and became a government official instead. Kate supported Grayson and worked to get anti-super power actions passed through the government. However, after Grayson was chosen to be the leader of the anti-super power task for the Crusaders over her, Kane grew resentful of her former ally. In the year 2040, after Grayson's son Jake showed signs of developing super powers, Kane went out of her way to have Jake and his father arrested, still holding a grudge. When the Graysons successfully restore the metahuman population's super powers, Kate retires from the Department of Defense after the super power ban was eventually repealed.
• In the comic book adaptation of Injustice: Gods Among Us, Batwoman (Kate Kane) appears as a member of Batman's Insurgency. At the end of the Year Three series she and Huntress fight Wonder Woman of Superman's Regime, with the latter being accidentally killed by the Amazon; while Wonder Woman is shocked by this, a furious Kate beats her into submission. Her grudge towards Wonder Woman continues into Year Four, where she also suffers the death of Renee Montoya after she overdosed on enhancement pills. When the Regime and the Greek Gods battle at the Hall of Justice, Kate gets revenge on Wonder Woman by strangling her with her own Lasso of Truth, recreating Huntress' experience. However, while she acknowledged she wants Diana dead, she lets her live as a sign that she is a better person. In Year Five, when an underground resistance is built up and named after the Joker, she confronts them in their hideout and tells them the Joker is not a man who should be honored. In the conclusion of the series, she seemingly sacrifices herself when she helped transport the other universe's Justice League to their world.
• In Batwoman: Futures End #1, five years into the future, Kate Kane was turned into a vampire and unable to control her thirst for blood, she began attacking people. She was eventually killed, when her sister Beth drove a stake through her heart.

Collected editions

#	Title	Material collected	Pages	Date Published	ISBN
Batwoman: Elegy		Detective Comics #854–860	192	June 14, 2011	978-1401231460
Batwoman by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III		Detective Comics #854–863	256	June 20, 2017	978-1401274139
New 52
1	Hydrology	Batwoman #1–5, #0	144	June 2012	978-1781163610
2	To Drown the World	Batwoman #6–11		January 2013	978-1401237905
3	World's Finest	Batwoman #0 (vol. 2), #12–17	168	September 2013	978-1401242466
4	This Blood is Thick	Batwoman #18–24	144	April 2014	978-1401246211
5	Webs	Batwoman #25–34, Annual #1	272	November 2014	978-1401250829
6	The Unknowns	Secret Origins #3, Batwoman #35–40, Annual #2, Batwoman Futures End #1	208	June 2015	978-1401254681
DC Rebirth
1	The Many Arms of Death	Batwoman: Rebirth, #1-6	168	November 21, 2017	978-1401274306
2	Wonderland	Batwoman #7-11	128	June 5, 2018	978-1401278717
3	The Fall of the House of Kane	Batwoman #12-18	168	January 22, 2019	978-1401285777

In other media

Television

File:Ruby Rose as Batwoman.jpg

Promotional image of Ruby Rose as Kate Kane / Batwoman for the Arrowverse's 2018 "Elseworlds" crossover event.

• Kate Kane / Batwoman makes her live-action debut in The CW's Arrowverse, portrayed by Ruby Rose; who was cast in the role in August 2018.
  • The character first appears in the 2018 crossover event "Elseworlds" with Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. The crossover establishes Batwoman on Earth-1, the same as Arrow and The Flash. This version is Bruce Wayne's cousin and protects Gotham City in Wayne's absence, who mysteriously left three years earlier. In "Elseworlds, Part 2", she arranges for the bail of Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, and Kara Danvers after they are arrested by the Gotham City Police Department. After the heroes confront John Deegan in Arkham Asylum, he arranges a mass breakout, which Kane helps stop as Batwoman. Following the battle, Batwoman tells the heroes to take their leave now that they got what they needed. Supergirl reveals she knows who Batwoman is using her X-ray vision as well as mentions Superman's relationship with her Earth's Batman. At the end of "Elseworlds, Part 3", Batwoman calls Oliver to tell him that a now incarcerated Deegan has made "friends" with Psycho-Pirate.
  • A television series centered on the character is currently in development at The CW. On January 3, 2019, the show received a pilot order.
• The Kate Kane Batwoman appears in Young Justice: Outsiders. She appears as one of the Justice League members that quits with Batman in a pre-planned move after Secretary-General Lex Luthor places some laws that prevent the Justice League from interfering in metahuman trafficking.

Film

• The Kate Kane iteration of Batwoman makes a cameo appearance in Batman vs. Robin. During one of Batman's nightmares, she is one of the fallen bodies next to Damian Wayne's Batman.
• The Kate Kane iteration of Batwoman appears in Batman: Bad Blood, voiced by Yvonne Strahovski. This version has military training but is berated by Batman for using live guns and ammunition in combat. She is also shown to have known Dick Grayson since they were children with Dick having a brief crush on her then which she did not notice at first, but still viewed each other as friends. Her lesbianism is freely addressed by her father at one point early in the film and she is shown meeting Renee Montoya who comes to her house at the end of the movie.

Video games

• The Kate Kane iteration of Batwoman appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Christina J. Moore.
• The Kate Kane iteration of Batwoman appears as a DLC playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
• Kate Kane is featured in Batman: Arkham Knight. She is heard on Bruce Wayne's answering machine, where she asks if Bruce is coming to her wedding with Maggie Sawyer and mentions that Bruce taught her the importance of keeping up appearances, hinting she is already Batwoman.
• The Kate Kane iteration of Batwoman is a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains.
• The Arrowverse version of Batwoman appears as a playable agility character in the mobile version of Injustice 2.

Other characters named Batwoman

Template:Split

In comics

• Before Kate Kane, Batwoman (Kathy Kane) took the mantle of Batwoman during the Silver Age of Comics within the "post-crisis" mainstream DC Universe.

Flamebird assumes the mantle of Batwoman in "Titans Tomorrow". Art by Mike McKone.

• The 1996 limited series Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross presents a Batwoman portrayed as a Batman admirer from Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Her costume mixed Kirby-esque elements with those of the original costume. The character rode a giant bat-winged dog named Ace.
• Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty (1997) features Vice-President Brenna Wayne who becomes Batwoman in order to stop Vandal Savage. Wayne discovers a conspiracy against her family after investigating the last thirteen generations of the Wayne family.
• JLA: The Nail (1998) by Alan Davis features Selina Kyle adopting a Batwoman costume based on the costume worn by Kathy Kane. The 2004 sequel, JLA: Another Nail, features her fashioning her own Batwoman persona.
• Superman/Batman #24 (November 2005) presents a world where the genders of the characters are reversed with Helena Wayne as Batwoman. DC later placed this alternate reality as "Earth 11" in the post-Infinite Crisis multiverse.
• In the Teen Titans storyline "Titans Tomorrow" (2005), Bette Kane is Batwoman, and wears a costume similar to Kathy's pre-Crisis one. In the follow up storyline, "Titans of Tomorrow... Today!" (2007), Bette Kane remains Flamebird and former Batgirl Cassandra Cain becomes Batwoman.
• In DC Comics Bombshells, which take place in an alternate history version of World War II, there are three versions of the character outside of Kate Kane:
• Katherine Webb, a member of the Kane family and the aunt to both Kate and Bette, is the Headmistress of Pinkney Orphanage. She was left in charge of the orphanage by Kate before she left Gotham. Headmistress Webb is a xenophobic woman, who uses the orphans to make robots in order to protect the country from foreigners, whom she characterizes as "evil". She is later defeated by a team of Batgirls, including Bette, who come to the orphanage to save the orphans.
  • Kathleen "Kathy" Duquesne, an auto mechanic and the leader of a team of Batgirls, who protect the city during Batwoman's absence. Along with Kathy, the team includes Nell Little, Harper Row and later on Alysia Yeoh and Bette Kane. Upon meeting Bette, Kathy immediately recognizes her as a baseball player and later figures out her real identity as well as her connection to Batwoman but promises to keep it a secret. The Batgirls save the orphans of Pinkney Orphanage from the devious Headmistress and later expand their team, welcoming Tim Drake, Cullen Row and Felicity Smoak, and creating a Bat family.
  • Sonia Alcana appears as an officer of Gotham City Police Department, partnered with Crispus Allen and working with Maggie Sawyer to aid Batwoman into her fight against crime in the city.

In other media

• The Batwoman alias is occasionally seen in The Batman animated series. In the two-parter "Batgirl Begins", Barbara Gordon wanted to be known as Batwoman before settling with the Batgirl name. In the episode "Artifact", Martha Wayne is mistakenly identified as Batwoman in the future along with Thomas Wayne as Batman and their son as Red Robin.
• A loose adaptation of Batwoman appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Vanessa Marshall. Though visually based on the Kathy Kane version, the character is never actually called "Batwoman" and is also an original character: Katrina Moldoff, the heiress to the Moldoff Circus fortune. Batman: Brave and the Bold director Ben Jones's Formspring page confirmed that the decision to rename the character was brought about after DC Comics voiced concerns about this depiction of the character having a negative impact on the new Batwoman comic book series, the first issue of which launched less than a month after the episode's initial air date. Seen in the episode "The Criss Cross Conspiracy!", she is portrayed as a thrill seeker and a trained circus acrobat whom Batman dislikes due to her crime fighting occasionally endangering innocent bystanders. When she is unmasked in public by the Riddler, she is forced to give up her crime-fighting life. She attempts to get revenge by encouraging Felix Faust to use a spell to switch her and Batman's bodies, allowing her to get closer to the Riddler without the police coming after her. When she fails, Batman rescues her and gets Faust to switch them back. She goes along quietly with the police while they are arresting the Riddler and henchmen.

• A version of Batwoman appears in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, voiced by Kyra Sedgwick. In this storyline (which conforms to the continuity of the DC animated universe), Batwoman is a new vigilante operating in Gotham City who is willing to use lethal force to achieve her goals. She targets the illegal operations of the Penguin and crime bosses Rupert Thorne and Carlton Duquesne. Viewed as a threat, Batman investigates Batwoman in an attempt to uncover her identity and bring her (as well as her targets) to justice. In the investigation, Batman suspects three different women to be Batwoman: Gotham Police Detective Sonia Alcana (voiced by Elisa Gabrielli), Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine (voiced by Kelly Ripa), and Kathleen "Kathy" Duquesne (voiced by Kimberly Brooks, and a thinly-veiled reference to Kate Kane) who Bruce Wayne forms a romantic relationship with. It is eventually revealed that all three women have been posing as Batwoman with grudges against the crime bosses, each acting at a different point to draw suspicion from all three of them. In the DVD and Blu-ray special features, the producers explain that DC did not want the filmmakers to use Kate Kane in a family-friendly movie due to the violence associated with her character.

References

Batman music
Soundtracks	Films	Batman (score) • Batman (soundtrack) • Batman Returns • Batman Forever (soundtrack) • Batman Forever (score) • Batman & Robin • Batman Begins • The Dark Knight • The Dark Knight Rises • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
	Video games	Batman: Arkham City • Batman: Arkham Origins
Songs	TV series	"Batman Theme" • "Batusi"
	Batman	"Batdance" • "Partyman" • "The Arms of Orion" • "Scandalous!" • "The Future"
	Batman Returns	"Face to Face"
	Batman Forever	"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" • "Kiss from a Rose" • "The Riddler" • "Where Are You Now?"
	Batman & Robin	"The End Is the Beginning Is the End" • "Look into My Eyes" • "Gotham City" • "Foolish Games" • "Moaner" • "Lazy Eye"

Template:DC Rebirth

Gotham
Episodes	Season 1	"Pilot" • "Selina Kyle" • "The Balloonman" • "Arkham" • "Viper" • "Spirit of the Goat" • "Penguin's Umbrella" • "The Mask" • "Harvey Dent" • "Lovecraft" • "Rogues' Gallery" • "What the Little Bird Told Him" • "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" • "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" • "The Scarecrow" • "The Blind Fortune Teller" • "Red Hood" • "Everyone Has a Cobblepot" • "Beasts of Prey" • "Under the Knife" • "The Anvil or the Hammer" • "All Happy Families Are Alike"
	Season 2	"Rise of the Villains" ("Damned If You Do..." • "Knock, Knock" • "The Last Laugh" • "Strike Force" • "Scarification" • "By Fire" • "Mommy's Little Monster" • "Tonight's the Night" • "A Bitter Pill to Swallow" • "The Son of Gotham" • "Worse Than a Crime") • "Wrath of the Villains" ("Mr. Freeze" • "A Dead Man Feels No Cold" • "This Ball of Mud and Meanness" • "Mad Grey Dawn" • "Prisoners" • "Into the Woods" • "Pinewood" • "Azrael" • "Unleashed" • "A Legion of Horribles" • "Transference"
	Season 3	"Mad City" ("Better to Reign in Hell..." • "Burn the Witch" • "Look into My Eyes" • "New Day Rising" • "Anything for You" • "Follow the White Rabbit" • "Red Queen" • "Blood Rush" • "The Executioner" • "Time Bomb" • "Beware the Green-Eyed Monster" • "Ghosts" • "Smile Like You Mean It" • "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies") • "Heroes Rise" ("How the Riddler Got His Name" • "These Delicate and Dark Obsessions" • "The Primal Riddle" • "Light the Wick" • "All Will Be Judged" • "Pretty Hate Machine" • "Destiny Calling" • "Heavydirtysoul")
	Season 4	"A Dark Knight" ("Pax Penguina" • "The Fear Reaper" • "They Who Hide Behind Masks" • "The Demon's Head" • "The Blade's Path" • "Hog Day Afternoon" • "A Day in the Narrows" • "Stop Hitting Yourself" • "Let Them Eat Pie" • "Things That Go Boom" • "Queen Takes Knight")
	Characters	James Gordon • Bruce Wayne • Fish Mooney • Oswald Cobblepot