CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow producers have decided to take an intended political stance and conspicuously include a more socially diverse cast member who is both a Muslim and a super hero for season three. The inclusion of the character is designed to work as a form of representation to fight back against United States President, Donald Trump.
It may sound like a joke, but rest assured that the showrunners are serious about embracing Social Justice Warriors and wanting to use the show as a platform to showcase their sociopolitical diversity and inclusivity.
According to NewsaRama, actress Tala Ashe has been cast to play a live-action version of Muslim super hero Isis.
The name is obviously somewhat controversial but the article notes that she will be playing the character via her given name of Zari Adrianna Tomaz.
Variety is reporting that according to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow producer, Marc Guggenheim, the decision to add a Muslim hero to the show was specifically in response to Donald Trump becoming President of the United States, saying…
“You might have heard there was this election, not to get political, but something that we all gravitated toward in the writers room was making this character Muslim.”
[Tala Ashe] was talking about how difficult it is to be a Muslim-American in the current political climate,” […] “Having a character who’s a computer hacker and is from the future but also happens to be Muslim, it’s a nice, important aspect of her character.”
According to Ashe, representation was apparently important because when growing up she claims no one on television looked liked her, saying…
“Representation is a really powerful thing,” […] “When I was growing up watching television, I didn’t see anyone who looked like me. When I think of the kid version of myself, I think it broadens your perspective. What I think is so lovely about this show is that the Legends are this tapestry that represent America today”
Apparently she didn’t watch Captain Planet and obviously wasn’t a fan of the Magic School Bus.
The articles and Guggenheim state that the point wasn’t just to add a character defined by being a Muslim woman, but they wanted it in there as part of an important aspect of the character. Guggenheim also stated that they wanted to increase the female character quota on the show, saying…
“There weren’t enough women quite frankly, […] It’s something we were looking to address.”
Television shows aren’t the only ones using their platform to make political statements. An upcoming game called Bloom: Memories is also being used as a way to take jabs at the POTUS, along with MachineGames’ Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. Media has become decidedly more political in recent years, even to the effect of turning off some gamers and audience members, which is what happened recently with Mass Effect: Andromeda, which resulted in BioWare Montreal being downsized and moved into a support role for Motive Studios.
As for Isis and her appearance on the super hero show… you can look for her to appear during the third season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, which airs on the CW Network.
(Thanks for the news tip Alistair)
