In a first for the franchise, the fourth season of Supergirl will introduce a transgender character.
Supergirl, which just ended its third season on the CW, is behind a casting call for the show. They are specifically casting a new character, Nia Nal, as a transgender woman.
The casting call, put out on Cast It Talent‘s website, reads, “Transgender woman, early 20s, open ethnicity. A confident, wunderkind of a fashionista. Once a political speechwriter, Nia is the newest addition to the CatCo investigative reporting team. With her she brings sparkling wit and biting humor but under that banter-y, chic façade, lays a soulful young woman who has much to offer the world. A young ‘Cat Grant’ type.”
Cat Grant, the founder and CEO of the fictional CatCo Worldwide Media, was the role given to Calista Flockhart in the first season of Supergirl. The character hasn’t been seen much since the start of the second season. The new character could presumably fill a role similar to that of Flockhart
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CatCo is where Supergirl works when she isn’t saving the world, though her non-superhero life hasn’t been much of a focus of the show over the most recent season. This new could also signal a shift in that as well.
Supergirl is part of the so-called “Arrowverse,” the name for various superhero shows on the CW, such as Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash, that cross over into each other’s timelines.
The addition of a transgender character will be a first for the “Arrowverse,” and mark the tenth LGBTQ character amongst the shows. The most recent such example is that of Batwoman, who will be premiering on Arrow.
Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, was rebooted as a lesbian in 2006.
Supergirl has one major LGBTQ character, Alex, Supergirl’s adopted lesbian sister.
This is in line with statements made by Supergirl executive producer and writer Greg Berlanti at the DC in D.C. event earlier this year, where he spoke about the lack of transgender characters in the “Arrowverse.”
“We don’t have an active trans character across the shows, you know,” Berlanti said. “We had a trans actress playing a trans in a show I did that was not a superhero show, eleven years ago. And so I still feel behind the times every day on that issue”
Trans actress Candis Cayne played Carmelita Rainer on Dirty Sexy Money, which Berlanti served as executive producer.
