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Ruby Rose Will Play Batwoman in the CW's Arrowverse Four-Way Crossover

The network has found its Batwoman!

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Keisha Hatchett

The CW has found its Batwoman and the casting couldn't be more perfect.

Orange Is the New Black alum Ruby Rose is set to play the iconic gay superhero, according to Variety. The character is described as a hero with a flair for social justice who isn't afraid to speak her mind, something Rose is very familiar with as a vocal advocate for LGBT rights. Rose, who identifies as genderfluid, will make her much-anticipated debut as Batwoman this fall during the CW's annual four-way Arrowverse crossover event.

During a visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night, Rose opened up about landing the major gig and what playing Batwoman means to her. "It's a gamechanger," she told Fallon. "I found out an hour before I did the premiere for Meg and I was so nervous doing the red carpet that I basically skipped everybody because I was worried... I kept spontaneously crying. I'm so thrilled."

She continued: "I feel the reason I kept getting so emotional is growing up watching TV, I never saw somebody I could identify with, let alone a superhero. Oscar Wilde had this saying which is, 'Be yourself because everybody else is taken.'" And so, I've always lived by that motto. The second motto [I lived by] when I came into the industry was, 'Be the person that you needed when you were younger.' And I feel like one motto led me to the other and I kept crying about it."

Batwoman, whose real name is Kate Kane, was first introduced in 1956 as a love interest for Batman. However, the character was re-introduced in 2006 as a lesbian and hero in her own right separate from Batman, becoming DC Comics' most high-profile canonically gay character to date.

In addition to the crossover, Rose will presumably star in a standalone series currently in the works at the CW. The show will follow her journey as an out lesbian and vigilante snuffing out the resurgence of criminals in Gotham, but that doesn't mean you should call her a hero just yet. After all, she still has her own demons to face. The series will be executive-produced by super producer Greg Berlanti and Caroline Dries, who will also serve as the writer on the project.

While both the upcoming series and the crossover event will visit the famed Gotham City, don't expect to see Batman popping up. CW has no current plans to introduce the billionaire caped crusader into the Arrowverse. In the meantime, catch Batwoman during the CW's four-way crossover event with Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash and DC's Legends of Tomorrow this fall.

(Full disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS, one of the CW's parent companies.)