The CW network’s Supergirl has announced the casting of transgender rights activist Nicole Maines to play a super-powered hero in the series upcoming fourth season.
Reports of the search for an actor to portray a transgender character broke in May, but now word has emerged that Maines has been cast as Nia Nal, a hero named “The Dreamer.” Nal will have the power to sense the future, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The casting is notable for the fact that Maines recently made news of another sort after suing to force the state of Maine to allow transgenders the use of any public bathroom they wish to use at any given time.
The activist’s case went all the way to the Maine Supreme Court in 2013 when the court ruled that transgenders can use the bathroom of their choice. Maines was also the subject of the book Becoming Nicole and appeared in the HBO documentary The Trans List. Maines’s previous acting credit was on the USA network series Royal Pains.
The announcement of the addition of the trans activist to Supergirl comes on the heels of the network’s announcement of plans to launch a new superhero series based on the DC Comics Batwoman, a Jewish, lesbian character first introduced in 2006.
CW’s Supergirl has been a bastion of liberal activism with multiple gay characters, attacks on conservatives, slams on President Donald Trump, and hits on Fox News.
In 2017, star Melissa Benoist was pleased to note that her show was a “feminist show.”
“I think it’s great,” Benoist said to Stephen Colbert. “And I think what’s feminist about it is that it’s for everyone. She has all the same powers [Superman] does.”
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