Supergirl will go to battle with a transphobic villain alongside trans superhero Dreamer in an upcoming episode of the hit CW series.
Supergirl and Dreamer will go to battle with the villain in a season five episode called “Reality Bytes”, Digital Spy reports.
The storyline was revealed in a plot synopsis shared by The CW ahead of the episode’s air date.
“Dreamer steps up to protect her community after her roommate is viciously attacked,” the episode’s synopsis said.
Transphobic villain in Supergirl wants trans superhero Dreamer to ‘quit’.
“Nia’s (Nicole Maines) roommate, Yvette (guest star Roxy Wood), is attacked by a man targeting Dreamer because he doesn’t like that Dreamer is transgender and wants her to quit being a superhero.”
The synopsis adds: “Determined to protect her community from additional harm, Dreamer refuses to give into his threats and puts herself in the line of fire to stop him.”
“Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) stands by Dreamer and enlists additional help from Brainy (Jesse Rath). Meanwhile, Alex (Chyler Leigh), J’onn (David Harewood) and Kelly (Azie Tesfai) attempt to rescue a man stuck inside a virtual reality escape room.”
Determined to protect her community from additional harm, Dreamer refuses to give into his threats and puts herself in the line of fire to stop him.
The powerful episode comes after Supergirl creators revealed that they would be introducing a trans superhero in 2018.
Maines, who is trans in real life, later joined the cast as Dreamer, breaking new ground for trans representation on-screen.
Nicola Maines opened up about transphobic bullying on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018.
Shortly before she was cast in Supergirl, which is popular with LGBT+ audiences, Maines revealed during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she faced transphobic bullying growing up.
“I really started thinking something wasn’t right,” she said, reflecting on her teenage years.
“My case was kind of unique because I have an identical twin brother and so growing up with him, he was identifying with all these male things and he was feeling very comfortable in his body.
“As soon as I could, I tried to voice to my parents that something’s off.”
However, she said her father did not take the news well when she told him she was trans.
“He blocked that out. He ignored it. He focused on his hobbies, and that left my mother on her own for a while. She didn’t grow up with the same expectations that my father did.”
However, she added: “[When I was bullied at school] he really stepped up and he said, ‘I don’t get this, but I love my child and I’m going to protect my child. Whatever it takes’.”