A new heroine is about to join the Arrowverse.
The CW has cast Kaci Walfall in the title role of the DC Comics character, Namoi. They also fleshed out three more roles for the pilot for the new series.
Who is Naomi?
Created by Brian Michael Bendis in 2019, Naomi McDuffie believed she was a typical teenage girl living in Port Oswego. A huge fan of superheroes, Naomi was struck by tales of an alien ship landing in town years before.
Naomi soon discovered the ship and the shocking truth: Her “father” was an alien from the planet Rann who had come to Earth on a spy mission. He fell in love with Naomi’s mother and stayed on the planet.
Naomi is a refugee from an alternate Earth where the ozone layer’s collapse caused a wave of radiation to grant twenty-nine humans superpowers. This set off a massive war that nearly ravaged the planet.
Naomi’s actual parents were among those beings, and she was the first offspring of a superpowered couple. Fearing an enemy would come after her, they sent Naomi to this different Earth.
Discovering her origins led Naomi to unlock her genetic powers of flight, super-strength, and energy blasts. She has been trying to learn to be a hero while hoping to find a way to return to her homeworld to save it.
The CW show
Details are tight on how much of the comic the series will adapt. Given that the Arrowverse established alternate worlds, it wouldn’t be difficult to work Namoi’s complex origins.
Cast as Naomi is Kaci Walfall, best known for the Starz drama Power and Broadway’s The Lion King. The character is described in the press release as “an effortlessly cool and confident high school student.”
The CW also cast Alexander Wraith as Dee, a local tattoo parlor owner. He’s also a Thanagarian alien who has an uneasy truce with Naomi’s father in the comics.
Cranston Johnson will star as Zumbado, who owns a local car lot. The comic version is actually one of the twenty-nine super-beings from Naomi’s world who becomes a ruthless tyrant.
It’s unsure whether the series will follow that or change the character.
Finally, Camila Moreno will star as Lourdes, a young woman with a sarcastic sense of humor who works in a vintage collectibles shop and has a crush on Naomi.
Acclaimed writer/director Ava DuVernay will helm the series with Jill Blankenship. No casting news yet for roles such as Naomi’s parents.
Naomi joins a slate of CW pilots that includes a revival of the Powerpuff Girls and a reboot of the cult sci-fi series The 4400. While filming has yet to begin, the chances are strong the Arrowverse adds more power to its ranks.