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Like Oliver Queen before her, Kate Kane will not be a polished, full-blown vigilante when Batwoman makes its debut this fall on The CW.

Speaking with TVLine on Thursday at the Upfronts, Batwoman star Ruby Rose said that a show such as this runs the risk of not seeming grounded if it straight away overdoes it with superhero derring-do. Instead, we will get to know Gotham City’s Kate Kane (aka Bruce Wayne’s cousin), her father Jacob and several other characters before Batwoman suits up.

As you may have surmised, Rose confirms that Batwoman (airing Sundays at 8/7c this fall) begins before the titular crimefighter crossed paths with Green Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl (in last year’s “Elseworlds” crossover event).

In our video Q&A above, the Aussie actress also sings the praises of on-screen adversary Rachel Skarsten (Reign), who plays Wonderland gang leader Alice; offers an overview of what Batwoman’s support team might end up looking like; and then weighs in on the out hero’s love life.

The official synopsis for Batwoman is below:

Kate Kane never planned to be Gotham’s new vigilante. Three years after Batman mysteriously disappeared, Gotham is a city in despair. Without the Caped Crusader, the Gotham City Police Department was overrun and outgunned by criminal gangs. Enter Jacob Kane (played by Dougray Scott) and his military-grade Crows Private Security, which now protects the city with omnipresent firepower and militia. Years before, Jacob’s first wife and daughter were killed in the crossfire of Gotham crime. He sent his only surviving daughter, Kate Kane, away from Gotham for her safety. After a dishonorable discharge from military school and years of brutal survival training, Kate returns home when the Alice in Wonderland gang targets her father and his security firm, by kidnapping his best Crow officer Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Although remarried to wealthy socialite Catherine Hamilton-Kane (Elizabeth Anweis), who bankrolls the Crows, Jacob is still struggling with the family he lost, while keeping Kate –– the daughter he still has –– at a distance. But Kate is a woman who’s done asking for permission. In order to help her family and her city, she’ll have to become the one thing her father loathes –– a dark knight vigilante. With the help of her compassionate stepsister, Mary (Nicole Kang), and the crafty Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, Kate Kane continues the legacy of her missing cousin, Bruce Wayne, as Batwoman. Still holding a flame for her ex-girlfriend, Sophie, Kate uses everything in her power to combat the dark machinations of the psychotic Alice (Rachel Skarsten), who’s always somewhere slipping between sane and insane. Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate soars through the shadowed streets of Gotham as Batwoman. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, she must first overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

