Batwoman: 5 ways to explain Kate Kane’s recasting in-show

Solution 3: A Kate Kane from a parallel universe

One of the more bonkers aspects of the Arrowverse’s take on the multiverse is that different versions of the same person don’t always look the same on every single Earth. The Elseworlds crossover reintroduced Flash from the 1990’s TV series, an older Barry Allen who looks like John Wesley Shipp, who also looks like Barry’s dad, Henry, and Earth-3’s Jay Garrick.

Crisis on Infinite Earths took it a step further. Not only did we get a cameo appearance from Ezra Miller as The Flash from the DC Extended Universe, we had Brandon Routh reprise his role as Superman from Superman Returns and Tom Welling’s Clark Kent from Smallville. 

This means you can have a Kate Kane from an alternate Earth who doesn’t look at all like Ruby Rose but is genetically still Kate. The question is how the series could introduce this alternate Kate and replace Earth-Prime’s Kate. Well, there’s supposed to be a crossover between Batwoman and The CW’s upcoming new Arrowverse series Superman & Lois scheduled for January 2021. It’s possible, in light of Rose’s departure and the coronavirus pandemic halting production, that this crossover could be reworked into the season premieres for both shows.

Moreover, the fantastical nature of Superman can allow for multiverse shenanigans. Perhaps the actress replacing Rose as Kate could be a Kate from the same universe that Wolé Parks’ “Stranger” is from. Maybe Earth-Prime’s Kate dies in the opening prologue of Batwoman’s season 2 premiere and the Kate from “Earth-Whatever” mysteriously appears “months later” after the opening credits.

Having this other Kate take the place of the Kate everyone knows would be a source of drama and serve as a means for reintroducing the series to a new audience. The downside, of course, is that this would be way too complicated for most viewers to digest.