Aya Mahmoud
The comic book medium has always been ahead of its time when it comes to representation. With Comic book adaptations at the peak of their popularity right now, the trend is only getting stronger with more and more representation in the mass media. One of the most popular TV universes at the moment is the Arrowverve, which has introduced its first Muslim superhero earlier this season.
A computer hacker and rebel: Zari Tomaz
In the third episode of the current season, the show’s titular team of time traveling meets computer hacker Zari Tomaz, as played by Iranian actress Tala Ashe.
Zari is a rebellious and distrusting woman who takes a serious issue with the rules that prevent her from using the time ship she lives in to save her family. She tries to ‘hack history’ to show everyone that saving her family doesn’t have to ruin the timeline. Her relationship with the team is a mix of healthy respect and serious distrust, which doesn’t prevent her from doing her best for the team.
Zari’s story has a lot of potential and the pages of comic books are filled with great characters like her, waiting to be adapted and shown to the world. With the Arrowverse fandom cheering for Zari’s inclusion in that universe and the success of shows, like Luke Cage and Black Lightning, and the overwhelming box office run of Black Panther, one could only hope that we could hope to see Kamala Khan’s Miss Marvel soon enough.
There are no better words said about inclusion and diversity in TV shows than what American comedian Amber Ruffin said in the Writers Guild Awards 2018 show “Diversity makes our shows better. If you want the world to watch your show, your show should look like the world”.