There are big changes coming to the life of one character in the CW’s DCTV universe. TVLine reports that a “significant character” will be coming out on one of DC’s big superhero shows. While the initial buzz was that the character could come from any of the CW’s four DC shows, the report has changed, saying that the character will likely come from The Flash or Supergirl. Yet because of certain actors’ series regular deals across multiple series there are some other options. Here are five characters that we think might be going through a bit of transformation very soon in the DC Berlanti-verse.
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Though the identity of the character who will be coming out is a real secret, head honcho Greg Berlanti did offer some details. “We had a character who we had discussed as a possibility last year internally, and it didn’t materialize. We didn’t get to the story. We just didn’t have enough real estate to deal with it in the way that we wanted to deal with it,” Berlanti explained. “So when we were planning this season, we said to the network and the studio that it was a priority for us, and everyone was cool with it.” This tidbit does lead to some interesting possibilities.
Captain Cold
Wentworth Miller was the first actor to receive the fancy new deal of being a series regular across all of CW’s DC shows. Though rumors are he will appear primarily on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, the slate is wide open for the character, especially considering that he died “out of time” in the first season of Legends of Tomorrow. Between The Flash season 2 and Legends of Tomorrow season 1, a lot of ground was covered with Captain Cold but it is certainly possible that his sexuality was also on the docket for the character but was never explored.
Season 1 of Legends of Tomorrow did explore flirtations and a quasi-relationship between Cold and Sara but there was nothing to suggest that Cold is solely into the opposite sex. In fact, Cold’s interactions with Barry Allen on The Flash play out in a shockingly similar way to his connection with Sara on Legends of Tomorrow. It really wouldn’t be much of a stretch if it was revealed that, like Sara Lance, Leonard Snart also identifies as bisexual. Plus, since Wentworth Miller is openly gay, he likely wouldn’t have any problem with exploring Cold’s sexuality.
Laurel Lance (The Black Siren)
We know that the character who will be coming out is not brand new. We have seen them before and though Katie Cassidy’s Black Siren barely qualifies as a returning character, she is still returning. Like Wentworth Miller, Katie Cassidy has received a series regular deal after being killed off on her initial DCTV show. Though no one knows exactly what that means, it is probably assumed that we will be seeing a lot more of the evil Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance, The Black Siren.
While it is somewhat problematic that the “evil” version of a straight character would end up being gay, it certainly could happen with the Black Siren. As she only appeared in one episode during The Flash season 2, not a lot of time was spent with the Black Siren and comparing how exactly she relates to the Earth-1 Laurel Lance. It is a bit of cop out to call Earth-2 Laurel a “significant” character but she would also probably be the easiest to have come out.
Cisco Ramon
Of course there are other options for The Flash’s secondary characters coming out as gay and they don’t even have to be evil. Cisco has shown attraction and flirtations with members of the opposite sex on The Flash. Yet unlike pretty much every other character, Cisco has not had a relationship for more than a single episode. There was the brief excursion where Cisco dated Kendra Saunders but the less said about that (and Kendra in general) the better off we would all be. Cisco’s most important relationships have not been with people of the opposite sex but rather those of the same gender like Barry, Harry and Joe West. This doesn’t mean that Cisco is gay but he also doesn’t have solid romantic possibilities like Caitlin Snow or Barry.
Cisco is not just the heart and soul of The Flash. He’s one of the most likable and popular characters in entire DCTV universe. If the powers that be wanted to have the character coming out have the most impact, Cisco would be a very good choice.
Alex Danvers
Berlanti’s comments about not having enough time to explore the character’s sexuality really do point to the identity of the mysterious character coming from Supergirl. Supergirl, more than any other DC show, really had trouble finding the exact groove for their characters and how everyone paired up together. Alex Danvers, Kara’s adoptive sister, is a perfect example of a character who grew over time. As reported from the SDCC 2016 panel for Supergirl, season 2 will see a lot more of Alex’s personal life explored. Maybe that will include Alex’s sexuality.
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Though Alex did have a series of heavy flirtations with villain Maxwell Lord in season 1, it always appeared that Alex was using Lord’s interest in her to her own gain. She did not seem genuinely into him. Though that can probably be boiled down the fact that Lord was an aspiring supervillain who wanted to end Alex’s beloved sister, it could also suggest something deeper about Alex.
Winn Schott
However, all signs point to it being Winn from Supergirl who ends up coming out in the upcoming season. Like Alex, it took a while for Winn to come into his own as a character. It just so happens that Winn’s blossoming as a character coincided with Supergirl dumping Winn’s romantic interest for Kara. Winn works best as character when he is the friend and not the love interest. Though Winn’s short-lived romance with Siobhan worked better than his crush on Kara, Winn’s best moments in Supergirl were his platonic relations with the opposite sex, not romantic ones.
Greg Berlanti’s further comments about how the character will come out also point towards Winn. Berlanti said, “It feels real to us and that it feels real that this character could have been struggling with not expressing this, and then real as they start to discover it, and then, obviously, real as they settle into being who they really are.”
Winn, more than any other character in DCTV universe, seems unsure of himself and his place in the world. He’s wasting his talents as genius as the IT guy at CatCo. He was pursuing a dead-end relationship with Kara who clearly had no romantic interest in him. He’s a character very much adrift and confused. Maybe the most amusing (and suggestive) hint towards Winn coming out is in the Supergirl pilot. When Kara tells Winn she has a secret, Winn wrongly assumes it is that Kara is gay, not that she is actually Supergirl. This could suggest that Supergirl has been playing with the idea of Winn coming out for a very long time.
No matter which character actually does end up coming out and adding some LGBT representation to the DCTV universe, a gay superhero will be getting their own show. It will just be animated.
TVGuide reports that the CW Seed will be launching an animated series, based in the Berlanti-verse, about the gay DC superhero, The Ray. It’s likely that The Ray animated series will follow a similar trajectory to the ongoing series about Vixen. Vixen, who made her live-action debut in Arrow season 4, got her start as an animated character and continues to have her own series on the CW Seed.
But what do you think? Who do you think will be coming out? Is there any character who you hope comes out? Which of these possibilities is the most likely to you?
(Images courtesy of CBS and The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
