They're doing table reads, and Ruby seems rather happy with the cast and crew: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuSvOWYH5kI/
I'd wager there'll be a time jump to "Present Day DCW" at least by the time of the crossover event following CoIE.
So I wonder if they'll touch on the disappearance of Bruce Wayne (wrapping up what was teased in Elseworlds) or will it simply be a case of he's gone, Batwoman is here instead and leave it at that.
I'm guessing the latter and that "what happened to Bruce" will be an ongoing mystery, for at least the first season, if not longer.
Yeah, that was my guess as well. I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed for an eventual appearance, like Superman on Supergirl, but if we do it will probably be after she's well established, again like on Supergirl.
I have zero interest in a Batman appearance. But, yeah, they seem to have set up a show that can pursue the mystery of where Batman/Bruce Wayne is that can lead up to ... wait for it... finding Batman (or Bruce).
We don't need a batman appearance (though I'm sure those that bleat about the lack of Superman on Supergirl will disagree) it's just they teased us with the story line that Gotham has gotten worse, Batman's nowhere to be found and Wayne Enterprises is a shell of it's former self.
My first impression is that it would be better to start Batwoman's story sometime after Batman disappeared, so that Gotham is already a wreck, driving Kate to do something about it. But the showrunners may see different possibilities than I do. We'll see.
Yeah, the situation with Superman on Supergirl was weird in the first season because he was ostensibly around, but not really because they hadn't cast someone in the role yet so they kept having to work around it. Part of me wishes they'd just bit the bullet and cast someone so he could show up in the pilot, but then not again for the entire season. The text messages were a nice touch IIRC and 100% nailed his distilled "voice" from the comics, but when it got the the whole mind control plot and just seeing his boots, it felt awkward. In the case of Batwoman though, they're going into it with a legit reason for Bruce/Batman to be a presence and a non-entity all at once. Sure, they'll probably still have to dodge around his appearance until they get around to actually casting someone, maybe even pulling the same shtick they did in Titans with the out of focus body doubles for the flashbacks, but that can all be done artistically if need be.
Wasn't there a body double for Superman at the very beginning of Supergirl? IIRC, there was a lens flare view of the Man of Steel until he finally showed up for realz.
Audition sides showed Kate looking for answers about her cousin and fellow vigilante's disappearance, so if I were to guess, I think the possibility is strong that part of the Pilot involves her looking for him and questioning some people.
I'd rather experience live-action depictions of superheroes that I've not seen more than five different depictions of in my lifetime.
Batwoman should and very likely will play a part in CoIE, but I do wonder with all the shows that they have to shuffle in the schedule somehow if we'll even get to see Batwoman the show prior to that, or will it start airing after Arrow's final season...
The more I think about it, the more I just want to them end the whole search for Bruce/Batman arc, if it does end up a story arc, by having Kate find him dead. That way we can get a solid, definitive answer, and at the same time avoid the whole "why isn't Batman helping out" question. Obviously this is a comic book unvierse with Larzarus Pits and other methods of resurrection, so even if they kill him off, if they decide later they really want him on the show they can just bring him back to life, or pull an Arrow and grab an alternate Earth doppelganger.