The CW has announced early renewals for 12 current series for next season. Among the names in this list is Batwoman. The show recently replaced the series lead actress, Ruby Rose, with newcomer Jacivia Lewis in the role of Ryan Wilder, the series’s new Batwoman. The new season of Batwoman is only three episodes in, so the news of the renewal is a welcomed surprise. We’re happy to get more Jacivia Lewis, who has proven herself to be as apt a replacement as her character Ryan Wilder is to the missing Kate Kane. The CW also announced additional episodes for its massive hit Walker and the upcoming Superman & Lois.
Chairman and CEO of The CW Network provided the following statement original supplied to the Decider,
“Though we’re just a few weeks into the new season, we wanted to get a strategic head start on next season with these early renewals, which allows our production teams to start laying out story arcs and hiring staff, and at the same time, continues to provide us with a strong, stable schedule to build on for next season. As The CW’s 2020-2021 season kicks into high gear, we are thrilled creatively with the direction of our first new shows out of the gate, Walker and Superman & Lois, that we wanted to order the additional episodes to complete their first seasons, and we are particularly pleased with the huge success of the launch of Walker, which debuted as our most watched series premiere in 5 years.”
The CW series range is rather vast and includes several that won’t premiere their new seasons until later this year. The series being ordered for the 2021-2022 season include: Walker (Season 2); All American (Season 4); Batwoman (Season 3); Charmed (Season 4); DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 7); Dynasty (Season 5); The Flash (Season 8); In the Dark (Season 4); Legacies (Season 4); Nancy Drew (Season 3); Riverdale (Season 6); and Roswell, New Mexico (Season 4).
As mentioned earlier, the network is ordering five additional episodes of Walker, bringing its total episode count for the 2020-2021 season to 18; and two additional episodes of the February 23 debuting Superman & Lois, bringing its 2020-2021 total to 15.
Unfortunately, some fan favorites were not renewed. Both Supergirl and Black Lightning are entering their final seasons on The CW. The season premiere for Supergirl‘s Season 6 currently has no date. In contrast, Black Lightning premieres on February 8 and is broadcasting a back-door pilot in the upcoming season as a potential spinoff for Painkiller. Fans of Stargirl may notice the series was not on the list, but it was renewed for a second season before this announcement.
In addition to the series renewals, several other projects are also in various development stages at The CW, including the Black Lightning spinoff Painkiller, an All American spinoff, The Lost Boys reboot, superhero series Naomi and Wonder Girl. There is also the adult take on The Powerpuff Girls no one asked for, but we’re still getting.
