Legends of Tomorrow has found itself a new hero to join the time-travelling team of the Waverider next season. Tala Ashe (whose previous credits include Law & Order and American Odyssey) has been cast as Zari Adrianna Tomaz. Though the name won’t mean much to casual DC fans, she’ll be playing a very significant character that should get comic book readers excited. In the source material, Adrianna Tomaz is the real name of superheroine Isis. For very obvious reasons, however, the character will not go by that name in the show.
According to Deadline, Zari is “a Muslim-American woman from the year 2030 who lives in a world of contradictions. Technology has brought about incredible change in her future, but human nature hasn’t kept pace. Fear, prejudice and a lack of care for the planet have forced Zari to become a “gray hat hacktivist.” She lives a double life and doesn’t realize that she has secret, latent powers derived from an ancient, mystical source.”
This is definitely a very loose adaptation of the character from the comics. Isis is usually portrayed as a member of the Captain Marvel family and is also the wife of Black Adam. The character first debuted in the 1970s Saturday morning kids show The Shazam!/Isis Hour. Since then, Isis hasn’t often featured in adaptations, although her spirit once appeared in an episode of Smallville when she possessed Lois Lane.
A while back, exec producer Marc Guggenheim teased that Legends of Tomorrow season 3 would feature a DC universe character who didn’t originate in the comics, and now we know who that is. Also, the introduction of a character from the Shazam mythology could open the door for the likes of Billy Batson and Black Adam to appear in the Arrowverse. Although, seeing as Warner Bros. are working on a movie featuring those characters, we wouldn’t hold out too much hope for that.
Legends of Tomorrow returns to The CW this fall.