Batwoman (2019)

[The Darknight Detective]

B5 as mentioned and Mission Impossible with Steven Hill leaving after Season 1 and them casting Peter Graves as new team leader Jim Phelps. But again those introduced new characters as the lead which IMO is harder than just recasting.

I forgot about MI. I remember being surprised about that after watching reruns of the show during the late '70s, since Graves was the star on CBS when I was a kid. [I]Twelve o'Clock[ High/I] was still slightly earlier, FWIW.

[Sandy Hausler]

Out of curiosity, has anyone listed any other characters the Arrowverse has recast? Right now, I can only think of Sam Lane (Lois' father).

In any case, unless I'm mistaken, this is the first time they had to recast the lead.

Sarah Lance was recast!

[80sbaby]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer for instance had a completely different actress playing Willow in its pilot. Buffy was different as well as while it was still SMG she was a brunette.

Wait, what? I'm pretty sure Alyson Hannigan was Willow in the pilot of BtVS. And changing hair color isn't nearly the same as casting a completely different person.

[Frontier]

Sarah Lance was recast!

Yeah, that's a big one.

[kingaliencracker]

Yeah, that's a big one.

Well...Sarah Lance wasn't a lead character in Season 1, so I don't think that counts.

[Frontier]

Well...Sarah Lance wasn't a lead character in Season 1, so I don't think that counts.

Yeah, but even in death she was kind of central to some of the arcs of season 1 and they used that actress in pictures so I think it's relevant.

[Elmo]

The article I read earlier in the day suggested the plan was to recast Kate. I can't find it now though. In any case I knew it wasn't an official confirmation, that's why I qualified it with "the early word". If they do make up a brand new character, that's fine.

Yeah totally reasonable that they will just find a new character to take on the mantle. At this point we don’t know

[Elmo]

Wait, what? I'm pretty sure Alyson Hannigan was Willow in the pilot of BtVS. And changing hair color isn't nearly the same as casting a completely different person.

They shot two different pilots

[Osiris-Rex]

They’ll just have a new character take on the mantle

What about the actress that is doing Julia Pennyworth?

It's going to be Kate Kane. Just like Batman will always be Bruce Wayne. I think part of the disaster of the Catwoman movie was she wasn't Selina Kyle. Or for that matter in Batman & Robin that Batgirl wasn't Barbara Gordon.

The early word is they're recasting, so it is still based on Kate Kane. I don't think anyone's scared of doing anything different, rather that recasting even the main character is not unheard of in television so there's no real reason at this point to imagine them needing to move on to something different in the first place.

Well...Sarah Lance wasn't a lead character in Season 1, so I don't think that counts.

Alura was recast in season 3 of Supergirl and no one made any comment about Alura looking different in season 1. And it wasn't just a cameo. Alura played a big role in season 3.

[Elmo]

It’s not confirmed anywhere that they are recasting Kate Kane but I still support that theory

[80sbaby]

They shot two different pilots

They did? Interesting. Is there a way to see the other one? And who was the actress for Willow?

Also, if that other pilot never aired, does it really fit this conversation on switching actresses?

[Elmo]

They did? Interesting. Is there a way to see the other one? And who was the actress for Willow?

Also, if that other pilot never aired, does it really fit this conversation on switching actresses?

It came in my DVD set of BTVS! I remember it was in black and white.
Idk man I was just clarifying that there were indeed two pilots.

[80sbaby]

It came in my DVD set of BTVS! I remember it was in black and white.
Idk man I was just clarifying that there were indeed two pilots.

Aw man, I lost my box set years ago in a move and never replaced it BUT this is as good a reason as any to replace it now

I gotcha and thanks for the info.

[skyvolt2000]

Aw man, I lost my box set years ago in a move and never replaced it BUT this is as good a reason as any to replace it now

I gotcha and thanks for the info.

The first Willow was not Alyson. It was a different actress.

Also Bianca Lawson was cast as Cordialla before filming. She left to go do another show on UPN and came back as Kendra.

Other shows that changed leads.

Family Matters- Judy was played by another actress (Valerie Jones) before Jamiee Foxworth. You could still see her in the openig credits of season 1.
Jarrett Lemon played Mark on Step By Step before he was replaced. If you look closely at the credits you do see him.
Married With Children had a different Bud & Kelly. The actress who played Kelly had a sister on Kids Inc (when Fergie was on it).
Full House filmed a pilot with a different father before Bob Saget arrived.
Charmed had a different sister before Shannon arrived.
Big Bang Theory had different pilots before we saw Penny.
Spin City ERASED a character after some episodes aired.
Smallville had a different Martha.
Mash wrote out the late Tim Brown's chracter because they found out black doctors were not around at that time.

[Jeremi]

They did? Interesting. Is there a way to see the other one? And who was the actress for Willow?

Also, if that other pilot never aired, does it really fit this conversation on switching actresses?

The actresses' name was Riff Regan if I remember right.