Actor-Inspired Element: Luke's glasses actually belong to Camrus Johnson. He wore them to one of his later auditions, and producer Caroline Dries liked them so much they eventually incorporated them into his costume design.
Actor-Shared Background: Word of God says that, unlike in the comics, Kate is a vegan in the show just like Ruby Rose is; this change seems to have been done mostly for practicality's sake. They're both lesbians as well, which was already part of the character, but this Kate was already out in JR High/High School, roughly the same age Rose came out in real life; in the comics, Kate didn't come out until she was 20.
Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, and James Tynion IV (three of Batwoman's major writers and one of her most iconic artists) expressed support on Twitter for Ruby Rose's casting.
Jimmy Palmiotti, one of Luke Fox's co-creators, tweeted to Camrus Johnson that he was excited to see Johnson in the role.
Wallis Day's casting was met with approval by Ruby Rose herself.
Nick Creegan happened to meet Jared Leto at a party soon after he was cast as Marquis, and the two had a conversation about the role of the Joker, during which Leto provided advice that Creegan eventually applied to his own portrayal.
Ascended Fancast: Bridget Regan was a well-loved choice for the role of Poison Ivy, since she had played a duplicitous spy/assassin in Agent Carter and a seductive, sapphic, redheaded mob boss in Jane the Virgin in succession. So the fancasters were very happy when she got cast for the role ahead of the show's third season.
Ruby Rose does not look back on her time on the show fondly due to the issues mentioned below and has said that she has no interest in ever returning to the show.
Meagan Tandy has expressed annoyance with how much of Sophie's character arc was wrapped up in her romantic ties to the two Batwomen.
The Danza: The full name of Rachel Skarsten, who plays Alice, is Rachel Alice Marie Skarsten. Marie is also Beth Kane's middle name in the show.
Dawson Casting: Javicia Leslie (born in 1987) is eight years older than her character Ryan Wilder (revealed in season 3 to be born in 1995).
Dueling Works: With Stumptown, another adaptation of Greg Rucka-penned material featuring a crimefighting LGBT woman who used to be in the military, which premiered less than two weeks prior to Batwoman.
Dyeing for Your Art: Ruby Rose had a number of her tattoos covered or altered, such as the ones of a cross and rosary beads (not suitable for a Jewish character) and most of the ones on her right forearm and upper back.
Executive Meddling: DC has a long history of tightly controlling the usage of Batman rogues in television adaptations, and Batwoman was no exception to this rule; the showrunners had to receive special permission to use the original Poison Ivy in season 3, and even then, they were only allowed to use her for three episodes.
Fake American: Kate is played by an Australian (and later played by a Brit), Jacob by a Scotsman, and Alice by a Canadian.
Implied in this article released after Ruby Rose's departure. A source close to the show claims that Rose was "wasn't happy working on the show, and did that make her fun to work with? No." It's also been alleged that she wasn't prepared at all for the long working hours that came with being a lead star of a TV show on top of the movies she was doing, which made her pretty irritable at times.
In an Instagram post in October 2021, Rose spoke frankly about her extremely fractured relationship with the producers and showrunners over the terrible working conditions the crew were in and how horrific injuries were ignored, including that she was forced to go back to work only ten days after an injury which nearly left her paralyzed, and accused showrunner Caroline Dries of "having no heart" and trying to force the crew to keep shooting even during the COVID-19 Pandemic (at least until lockdowns shut down production). She also spoke about her extremely poor relationship with Dougray Scott, whom she claimed was volatile and abusive to crew members and called him a "nightmare," and Camrus Johnson, whom she called an "egomaniac kid," and said that WB chairman Peter Roth sexually harassed female employees and hired a private investigator to snoop on her (and then fired the investigator when his report didn't say what he was hoping it would say about Rose). She said she'd never return to the show no matter how much money they offered her.
In response to that, a production assistant went on record reaffirming the original claims, and added that Rose treated everyone badly on set, didn't have her lines memorised before arriving on set, and frequently arrived late. Scott denied her allegations, and Johnson reiterated that she was fired and didn't leave the project of her own volition.
During a roundtable discussion with Azie Tesfai (from Supergirl), Candice Patton (from The Flash) and Anna Diop (from Titans), Javicia Leslie talked frankly about having to deal with racist harassment from fans and how frustrated she was that her costars were not supporting her.
Ruby Rose was injured doing a stunt, causing two herniated disks near her spinal cord. She had to undergo emergency surgery to avoid paralysis. In the latter half of season 1, the Batwoman cowl was redesigned to better conceal the still-healing surgical scars.
Amanda Smith, a production assistant, was struck on the head by a bucket of a lift while on a location setup shoot and was paralyzed from the waist down.
The casting call for Kate Kane specifically asked for a queer actress, though the producers were also prepared to cast a straight actress as a last resort. Ruby Rose's casting fulfilled the original intention, as she's a lesbian.
When Ruby Rose left the show, the producers made sure to be clear they were looking for another LGBT actress as the replacement. They ended up casting bisexual Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, the next Batwoman, who's also lesbian.
Bevin Bru, who plays Angelique (Ryan's ex-girlfriend) is bisexual as well. Given the above, it's probably a deliberate choice.
Recycled Set: In the pilot, the side of Wayne Tower Kate scales is actually the side of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which was used earlier as Gotham City Hall.
Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Ruby Rose was allegedly fired from the show in 2021 because of "multiple complaints about her workplace behavior". Rose has contested this, claiming that she quit the show because of a toxic and unsafe work environment (admittedly, Rose did receive a serious back injury during a stunt that required emergency surgery to prevent paralysis, while production assistant Amanda Smith was paralysed from the waist down due to an on-set injury). There were reports of Rose frequently clashing with other cast and crew members, though accounts differ on who was the instigator.
Separated-at-Birth Casting: Dougray Scott bears a fair amount of resemblance to Ruby Rose. Rachel Skarsten is also believable in playing his daughter/her sister. Wallis Day, who replaced Rose as Kate, is also close in looks to Scott and Skarsten.
Screwed by the Network: Along with Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman found itself left out in the cold following the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, being axed on a cliffhanger like its sister show to make room for upcoming shows. The specific reason for both shows being cut was because WB did not want to pay to extend the leases on the studios where the shows were filmed, despite CW CEO Mark Pedowitz wanting to bring both shows back.
Alice sticking her tongue through the false face's mouth in episode 6 was a "semi-joke" take by Rachel Skarsten that made it into the final episode.
In "Fair Skin, Blue Eyes," the shot of Alice licking a bell pepper before replacing it in a fridge was done as a joke by Rachel Skarsten "to make the crew laugh".
In "Broken Toys", Ryan and Sophie's love scene was largely improvised, as director Camrus Johnson realized that two women would probably have a much better idea of how to have fun with each other than he would. This resulted in several memorable moments, like Ryan struggling to remove Sophie's belt and Sophie knocking over a lamp.
Rose called out multiple members of the cast and production crew for their abusive actions; Rose described co-star Dougray Scott as "a nightmare" for attacking a female stunt double and constantly screaming at women on the set, with complaints about his actions being ignored. Rose also put forth that showrunner Caroline Dries had forced the show to continue shooting through the COVID-19 Pandemic, putting the cast and crew at risk until government action forced a production shutdown.
Stunt injuries were rife throughout the production. Rose showed proof of multiple injuries she suffered from stunt work, including a major cut that nearly caused blindness, a tumor, rib injuries, and revealed that her back injury had required major surgery to address. According to Rose, she was forced by WB executive Peter Roth to return to work a mere ten days after her surgery or she would be blamed for production shutting down. Other stunt-related incidents included a crew member suffering third-degree burns across their whole body and a production assistant left paralyzed from the waist down.
More than one of Rose's fellow cast members have stated that she was fired for her workplace behavior such as regularly mistreating the production staff and showing up late to filming without learning her lines, among other things.
Natasha Negovanlis, who plays the title role of Carmilla the Series, auditioned for the role of Kate Kane.
The Batmobile was originally supposed to have debuted in one of the two episodes that were scrapped at the end of season 1. It was revealed in the season 2 premiere instead.
Initially, Kate was going to be recast after her actress' departure but Greg Berlanti persuaded Dries to introduce a new Batwoman instead. However, they did end up recasting her with Wallis Day in the first half of Season 2 after she had initially auditioned for Ryan, but Dries saw her as a better fit for Kate 2.0 instead.
Ruby Rose mentioned that she was willing to give the show another shot after she departed by the end of the first season. But by the time the second season aired on TV, Wallis Day was cast to replace her instead.
Stephanie Beatriz campaigned to take over the lead for season 2 following Ruby Rose's departure. She'd be cast to voice Batwoman in Catwoman: Hunted.
Had the series gotten a fourth season, there were plans for Sophie to have a major character arc culminating in her becoming both the new Police Commissioner and the new Catwoman.
Word of God: After Kate truly becomes Batwoman for the first time in Episode 3, Caroline Dries stated on Twitter that Elseworlds fits in right afterward. The next episode features a reference to a breakout from Arkham.
Brendon Zub, who plays Chuck Dodgson, appeared in the pilot of The Flash as a character named Kyle.
Chris Shields, who plays Mayor Akins, appeared in a Season 5 episode of The Flash in a minor role.
Garfield Wilson, who portrays The Rifle, previously played an unrelated prisoner on Arrow.
Warren Christie, who portrays Tommy Elliot/Hush disguised as Bruce Wayne (and thus by extension the real Bruce Wayne/Batman), previously portrayed a character named Carter Bowen an episode of Arrow's first season.
released after Ruby Rose's departure. A source close to the show claims that Rose was "wasn't happy working on the show, and did that make her fun to work with? No." It's also been alleged that she wasn't prepared at all for the long working hours that came with being a lead star of a TV show on top of the movies she was doing, which made her pretty irritable at times.