Batwoman On The Verge Of Being Cancelled?
With low ratings in its second season with new star Javicia Leslie, a new rumor suggests that Batwoman could soon come to an end.
This article is more than 2 years old
Batwoman has been one of the most troubled productions in The CW’s Arrowverse since it debuted in 2019. After one season playing Kate Kane / Batwoman, Ruby Rose left the series, with Javicia Leslie taking over the role as new Batwoman, Ryan Wilder in Season Two. While the second season has only received a few episodes, the ratings haven’t been looking great for Batwoman. Making things even worse, a new rumor suggests that Batwoman could be coming to an end relatively soon.
This rumor comes from Daniel Richtman’s Patreon, where he says he has heard that Batwoman could be canceled by the end of this season, or at the end of a third season. Considering the show’s critical reception and the relatively low ratings for this season and last, this wouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
The first episode of Batwoman’s second season, “Whatever Happened to Kate Kane?” received only 660,000 viewers, while last night’s “2.0” was down three percent to 642,000 viewers. By comparison, Batwoman debuted with 1.86 million viewers, yet by the end of the first season, the show hit its lowest viewership with 630,000 viewers. This second season has yet to hit these lows, but it is coming dangerously close, especially for a show that should have seen an uptick solely due to those intrigued by the show’s new star.
However, there are a few factors that make Batwoman’s fate not seem so dire. The CW often has lower ratings than other networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. For example, Charmed’s third season, which debuted after January 24th’s episode of Batwoman, received only 465,000 viewers. Charmed has had a far smaller audience than Batwoman since the end of its first season, and yet, Charmed is still on the air. On the other end of the ratings spectrum, Walker just became the most-watched debut on The CW in five years, even though the show was only viewed by 2.44 million people.
Another important factor in Batwoman’s recent low ratings is that the show’s Sunday night slot pits it against NFL championship games, which are drawing in around 30 million viewers per game. As football season starts to wrap up, it’ll be interesting to see how that changes Batwoman’s viewership on Sundays.
Yet Batwoman also hasn’t had many champions for the show, as reviews have been weak for both the first and second seasons. Brian Lowry of CNN said of the second season, “even with a new caped crusader, Batwoman, for better or worse, basically looks like the same old show.” Caroline Framke of Variety said of Season Two’s clashing storylines, “it’s also not particularly satisfying.” While the show hasn’t received the most glowing reviews, many have taken to review-bombing the show on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
But with The CW’s biggest shows like Supernatural and Arrow off the air, and with Supergirl and Black Lightning having their final seasons soon, The CW needs some hits. Walker is off to a strong start, and Superman & Lois’s debut next month brings another major superhero to the network’s roster. Even with low ratings, The CW tends to have faith in their shows and continue them when other networks would cancel. Whether or not The CW has faith in Batwoman is yet to be seen, but with the shows directly tied to the Arrowverse dwindling away, maybe Batwoman will keep going longer than is expected.
