Arrowverse's Batwoman actor Javicia Leslie confirms her return as the Gotham City hero in The Flash season 9, making it her second role in the season.
After being spotted as a new character in The Flash season 9 set photos, Javicia Leslie has confirmed she will be suiting up again as the Arrowverse's Batwoman. One of The CW's longest-running Arrowverse dramas is officially coming to an end in 2023 as The Flash season 9 will bring Barry Allen's adventure to a close. Following several Arrowverse/DC TV cancelations earlier in 2022, including Batwoman, The Flash is one of the two only returning shows coming back next year from Greg Berlanti's interconnected superhero universe.
While Batwoman was canceled after three seasons, Leslie will be appearing in The Flash season 9, but apparently as more than one Arrowverse character. After being spotted in set photos as Red Death (while The CW is for now only referring to her as "Mystery Character,") the Batwoman star will also be suiting up as the Gotham City heroine once again. Leslie shared an image as well as a video on her Instagram story from her trailer while wearing Ryan Wilder's regular Batwoman costume, which is the first time she has been seen in the suit after her show ended in March. Check out screenshots of the Batwoman actor's return below:
While neither The CW nor Warner Bros. TV have yet to give out any story details about how Batwoman's Leslie is pulling double-duty in The Flash season 9, it's not too difficult to figure out what concepts they may be using here. Since The Flash season 2, the multiverse concept has been a core component to the entirety of the Arrowverse, as they would explore other Earths with doppelgängers of established characters.
What is likely happening is that Red Death is Ryan from another universe, rather than the Earth-Prime iteration becoming the infamous DC villain.
Even though the network and studio haven't clarified if Red Death will be the big bad for The Flash season 9, it does appear that Leslie will, at least one point in the final season, play two characters in the same episode.
The only other alternative plot device they might be using for Red Death is if this is a Ryan from an alternative timeline, rather than a parallel universe, where she at some point became an antagonist, which would make this more into a time travel storyline than a multiverse one. No matter how they do it, this should be comforting for Arrowverse fans, especially those who loved the Batwoman TV show, as they get to see the Gotham City crusader at least for one episode, if not more, in The Flash's farewell season.