Fans have had a mixed response to the news that a Batwoman series is in development, but we’re looking at five reasons we’re excited to see Kate Kane join the Arrowverse.

Kate Kane will make her debut in the Arrowverse crossover before potentially moving on to her own series. The logline for the prospective Batwoman series reads,

Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

Here are five reasons to get excited to see Kate Kane in the Arrowverse:

Kate will be the first openly queer lead

While the Arrowverse has numerous LGBTQ+ characters — including Sara Lance, Alex Danvers, Anissa Pierce, John Constantine, Curtis Holt, Ava Sharpe, The Ray, Leo Snart and Captain Singh — but none of them are leads in live action (The Ray has an animated series on CW Seed). Sara comes closest as the captain of the Waverider, but Legends of Tomorrow is an ensemble show.

With Batwoman, on the other hand, Kate Kane, as a lesbian, will be the first queer lead character in the live action Arrowverse. And that is a huge step forward in representation, especially with the prevalence of the Bury Your Gays trope.

Moreover, Kate’s sexuality is important to her story — in the comics, for instance, she is kicked out of West Point when she comes out. She also has relationships with Detective Maggie Sawyer and Renee Montoya.

Kate is a character with great depth but who can also be a strong representative of the LGBTQ+ community in the Arrowverse.

Kate has daddy issues and other personal struggles

While Kate’s sexuality is important to her story, her sexuality is not her only defining feature. Her relationship with her father, for instance, is key to her character development in the comics; her father helps her train to become a vigilante and provides her with a suit and gadgets.

This looks like a story that will appear in Batwoman, as That Hashtag Show revealed a detailed casting synopsis for Kate that discusses her father and other issues surrounding her personal life:

Kate is fully aware of how bad-ass she is whenever she enters a room, even though she prefers to put a smile on your face. Young Ms. Kane is physically and intellectually confident while being a woman who is proud to be openly gay. However, Kate still deals with her inner demons that go back to her history with her dad. Their relationship is quite complicated as she struggles to get praise from him. She once aspired to have a successful military career, but those dreams sadly came to an end as she was kicked out of West Point once she came out of the closet. But that didn’t stop her from becoming the crime-fighting vigilante known as Batwoman. Striking fear into the criminals she fights, Kate is someone who must also fight the complications of living a double life, both as a citizen and hero of Gotham. While she has her shield up when fighting criminals, she lets herself be vulnerable when dating women.

Kate will be played by an out lesbian actress

We previously noted that Batwoman is seeking an out lesbian actress of any ethnicity to play Kate. While the Arrowverse — and media in general — have an increasing number of queer characters, most roles are still going to straight actors.

The Arrowverse step forward with this by casting Russell Tovey as The Ray and having Wentworth Miller play Earth-X Leonard Snart as gay; the two were an openly affectionate couple with plans of getting married.

Does this mean straight actors should never play queer characters? Of course not. But it makes a statement for the series to want to specifically provide an opportunity to an out lesbian actress to play this important role.

Batwoman brings the Bat-family to the Arrowverse

It’s regularly been said that the Green Arrow is The CW’s Batman. This is not far from the mark (pun intended) considering the numerous villains Arrow has borrowed, particularly Ra’s al Ghul.

Gotham and Bruce Wayne have been mentioned or hinted at in various ways in the Arrowverse, but Batwoman’s presence will be the first solid connection to the Bat-family in the Arrowverse. This will be the first time we see Gotham in the Arrowverse.

It’s neat to see this universe continue to expand going into its seventh season.

Kate is a non-meta hero

Since The Flash started the Arrowverse spin-off trend, we’ve seen an increasing number of powered heroes, from metahumans to aliens. Kate, however, is more in line with Oliver because she does not have powers.

In the comics, she is an elite gymnast with hand-to-hand training from West Point. Once she decides to become a vigilante, she travels around the world to train in additional martial arts styles.

While powers can be fun, there is something unique to seeing non-powered heroes holding their own with their own skills and wits against villains, some of whom are powered and some of whom aren’t. The action sequences on Arrow can be incredible as Oliver relies on his skills and tools.

Never forget: Oliver reminding Barry and Kara that he doesn’t have super speed in the most recent crossover. Hilarious.