There is an allure when it comes to the Bat family of characters. They are polar opposites from classic superheroes, especially those in the "Super" family. They use their own tragedy and almost superhuman drive to create fear for their enemies. Going against Supergirl, you know you are going to lose but you don't fear for your life. Fighting Batwoman you very much could lose a limb or worse (though not necessarily die). That juxtaposition is what is making Batwoman a very dark show indeed!
Batwoman production designer Lisa Soper spoke with Inverse.com about the tone of the set she created for the show. Soper, who also was the creator of the set of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina had this to say about Batwoman's set:
I just watched the trailer for Joker, and Batwoman feels very much more in that realm tonally. I will definitely say that we have created something completely different. The crossover was very much a taste and introduction to Kate Kane and Batwoman, giving the audience a little teaser.
In case you haven't seen it, here is the trailer for the Joker, which has a totally different kind of disturbing feel than Heath Ledger's Joker (our current personal favorite but Joaquin Phoenix's take on the character could really impress us).
Soper went on to explain that her Gotham had to be different from Fox's Gotham and she looked to the comic books for inspiration:
We did look at Gotham quite a bit in the early days when we got started. We wanted to make sure that we weren’t making Gotham. What does Gotham look like after Batman’s gone? We had to put ourselves in a polar opposite spectrum of where Gotham has been. I really wanted to lean into the color palette of the comic book itself, which is that monochromatic field with those punches of red. Gotham is a lot more into the blues and the golds. We both have nods into the Art Deco elements of our world, but I went a little bit more edgy stylistically.
Soper closes with a very bold statement which we are very excited about:
I believe that we’ve kick-started a Gotham City that everybody’s going to be pretty excited about. It’s not Sabrina, it’s not The Flash, it’s not Arrow — It’s Batwoman.
Looking back on Elsewords (which can be viewed on Netflix right now) we can remember a very distinct feeling of how the other characters, Flash, Arrow and Supergirl, all felt like they were awash in darkness just by being in Gotham. Good example below:
We couldn't be more excited about seeing a post-Batman Gotham like Soper described! Let us know what you think in the comments below and in the forum!
Comments
@ Romulus: If they can score with 18-34 like you mentioned...that would be something, since the ratings care a LOT about 18-49, while the rest isn't ...so important (as I understand it).
I just hope that the show get ratings and streaming numbers....that are good enough to keep it on the air.
I mean, if a show like Legends of Tomorrow, which I think is...just(only an "OK" show, ..has (at least) 5 seasons....Batwoman shouldn't get less.
The CW should have enough experience by now with all those superhero shows, that I'm confident that they know what to do with this caped crusader.
If it is too moody and dark, it will off-put a good chunk of the female viewing population. True, it might have its appeal with the 18-34 demographic (both male and female) but it may not appeal so much to younger or older viewers. It's a gamble. And, yes, the Berlanti-verse show are full of such gambles. Some succeed and others don't. It's the nature of the business.
Don't get me wrong, from all accounts it is likely to be a very good show, but it might be taxing (forgive the analogy) and exhausting to watch. It will appeal to the LGBTQ shippers and the more hardcore Batman universe aficionados, but it might be limited to that.
Like I said previously, I will withhold judgement until the show finally airs. It may surprise me in pleasant ways, but if it goes down the rabbit hole that has become Arrow the past three seasons, then my viewing days will be very sparse, if non-existent.