‘Supergirl’ Creators Cast Nicole Maines As First Transgender Superhero

This weekend is the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con event, which is held at the San Diego Convention Center in California. During the event, stars and creators of popular TV shows gather to meet fans and share inside scoops, teasers, casting details, and upcoming release dates for some of the biggest and most anticipated shows.

According to reports from Variety, the creators of The CW’s Supergirl could be making TV history after announcing their decision to cast Nicole Maines as the first transgender superhero in the DC Universe, or anywhere else.

Maines will join the fourth season as Nia Nal, a new employee at CatCo Worldwide Media. Her character is being described as a “soulful” young transgender woman with a “fierce drive to protect others.” Nia will go by the superhero name “Dreamer” and this season will be an exploration of her figuring it all out and stepping into her new role to fulfilling her destiny.

As more and more showrunners and creators are making the decision to tell more inclusive stories via cable and streaming services, the executive producer of Supergirl, Greg Berlanti, has made it a personal goal to utilize his platform to tell more LGBTQ stories.

“Even with the action shows though, I’ve still tried to do my part in making those shows relevant where I can, whether it’s having openly gay actors play straight characters or straight actors play gay characters,” he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2016.

THR notes that in June, 2013, Maines made headlines all over the world when it was “ruled that her rights had been violated under the state’s Human Rights Act and set a landmark victory for trans rights in its ruling that transgender people can use the bathroom of their choice.”

She also appeared in the HBO documentary, The Trans List.

Maines’ casting wasn’t the only bit of news from the Supergirl camp at Comic-Con; joining her in the show’s fourth season will be April Parker Jones as a new series regular, who will play Colonel Haley. Jones’ character is being described as a “hardline career military woman [who] lives and dies by the orders of her commanding officers.” She will stop at nothing to put the interest of her country first, even to her own detriment.

David Ajala will also be present this season, after securing a recurring role as Manchester Black. Ajala’s character will be based on the original DC character, he has a dark past but is able to “easily deflect the brutality of his mission with charm and a sense of humor.”

Supergirl will return on October 14.