CW's SUPERGIRL Casts Nicole Maines As TV's First Transgender Superhero

According to Entertainment Weekly, Transgender actress turned activist Nicole Maines (Royal Pains) is joining SUPERGIRL as TV's first transgender superhero in season 4, producers announced during the show's San Diego Comic-Con 2018 panel Saturday.

Maines will play Nia Nal, the newest addition to CatCo's reporting team who is fierce and driven to protect others. This season, Nia will follow a similar path as Kara/Supergirl that will lead her to eventually embracing her superhero destiny as Dreamer. Hopefully, the introduction of a new CatCo based character means this season will be spending a bit more time at CatCo, which diminished in importance in season 3 due to the fact that Kara was focused on being Supergirl.

Supergirl is an American superhero action-adventure television series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlantiand Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created ARROW and The Flash) that originally aired on CBS and premiered on October 26, 2015. It is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl, created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, and stars Melissa Benoist in the title role. SUPERGIRL is a costumed superheroine who is Superman's cousin and one of the last surviving Kryptonians. The series is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe.

The series was officially picked up on May 6, 2015, after receiving a series commitment in September 2014, and received a full season order on November 30, 2015. In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that the series would move from CBS to The CW with its second season renewal. On April 2, 2018, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season, which is set to premiere on October 14, 2018.