Supergirl finds itself a Maggie Sawyer: an openly LGBT character in the DC comic books
It’s official. Supergirl, moved from CBS to the CW, has found its Maggie Sawyer.
The Hollywood Reporter learned that Floriana Lima has landed a series regular role for Supergirl‘s second season. It’s been testing times for Supergirl, but it may be finding its feet rapidly with this sure-to-be-popular casting. Lima had been most recently in The Family, but is probably most well-known for her performance in The Mob Doctor.
On Supergirl, Maggie will be a detective for the National City Police Department, with a particular interest in kooky alien cases. Which sounds like she’d probably fall in perfect step with the outlandish Supergirl herself.
In a Hollywood Reporter interview with the show’s openly gay executive producer Greg Berlanti, he stated that he “still fights for everything”—including his wish for more open and broader representation in the projects he juggles. Talking of Supergirl, Berlanti said:
For instance, in The Flash, Iris West was never black in the comic books, and for Supergirl, James Olsen was never black in the comics.
Perhaps more relevant to the current Maggie Sawyer conversation that must be stirring right now, Berlanti had spoken of representation thus:
So I’m doing it in a way that’s not as overt now, but it’s still about working in some of those very real qualities so that everyone feels represented.
So who is Maggie Sawyer?
The character of Maggie Sawyer was created by John Byrne and first introduced in 1987 in the Superman comics. She was a police officer of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit—a specialized crime unit designed to deal with meta-humans in cases deemed too extreme for the average police officer to handle on the streets.
Maggie rose up the ranks and eventually became a leader of this division. Highly-skilled, Maggie showed that she was more than capable of defending herself. Openly lesbian, she had pursued a relationship with women, notably Batwoman.
[Special Crimes Unit] has given up trying to keep the peace. It’s a war-zone here. The cops are outpowered and outgunned… and the best we can hope for is to get out of this mess alive. – Maggie
She also frequently interacted with Superman, with Superman even collaborating with the S.C.U to solve cases on multiple occasions. Strong and fit for the job, Maggie could be a valuable asset to Supergirl next season. We’ll see…
SUPERGIRL Season 2 premieres on The CW at 8pm, Monday, October 10
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