New LGBT Character, LGBT Superhero Show, and More from DC and the CW

There was a lot of interesting information revealed at the CW’s DC panel on this year’s Television Critics Association (TCA) tour, but this is probably the one people have been waiting for: a major character on one of the network’s four DC Comics shows will come out as LGBT+!

Everyone was very mum on the details, but Greg Berlanti did make sure to emphasize that it is a main character, according to Variety. They just don’t want the audience to know too much about the storyline in advance, so that they can “enjoy the character development”. From what executive producer Andrew Kreisberg said, it seems as though this character exploring their sexuality is a fairly significant plot arc, at least for part of the season. And Sarah Schechter kept the vague train going by teasing that it is either a man or a woman, and it is on one of the four shows. Thanks for the help, Sarah!

Legends of Tomorrow already has an LGBT+ character in bisexual Sara Lance, originally from Arrow, who showed up back in Starling City with a girlfriend and everyone was super cool about it, since they mostly focused on the fact that she was supposed to be dead. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Legends can’t have another LGBT+ character (two on one show! What fantasy!), but it would be nice if they spread the representation around.

Speaking of, the TCA panel also revealed that a brand-new show featuring a gay superhero will launch on the network’s digital channel, CW Seed. Freedom Fighters: The Ray is about gay DC superhero Raymond Terrill, and while it will be animated, network head Mark Pedowitz indicated that the character could be integrated to the live-action Arrow-verse shows.

But wait, that’s not all! Berlanti also revealed that about midway through the season – after the epic, four-episode, four-show crossover – there will be another two-episode crossover between Supergirl and The Flash… and it’s a musical. It doesn’t sound so crazy when you consider how many of the cast have musical backgrounds – Melissa Benoist and Grant Gustin were both on Glee, and Jeremy Jordan and Jesse L. Martin have appeared on Broadway.

“Some of you may know my own personal love of musicals and actors who have been in them, and we have a number of people who can sing across all the shows who will be making some very exciting appearances in the back half of the year,” Berlanti said.

Please, please, please bring Tyler Hoechlin back as Superman for that.

ScreenRant theorizes that Joss Whedon may be directing both musical episodes, but I hope this is just speculation for now. Whedon certainly has the credentials – Buffy the Vampire Slayer had an extremely popular musical episode, not to mention Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog – but Whedon has been a little iffy on his feminism lately, and Supergirl is a powerfully feminist show. Then again, if he doesn’t have anything to do with the script, I could probably get on board with this.

Wow! That’s a lot of news! What are you guys most excited about?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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