TV

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow quietly introduces TV’s first asexual superhero

Legends of Tomorrow character Spooner looks at the camera while holding a drink

Spooner comes out as asexual in a low-key conversation with Zari on the CW’s Legends of Tomorrow. (YouTube/Arrowverse Voice/Warner Bros/CW)

The CW has quietly introduced TV’s first asexual superhero in the latest episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. So be warned: spoilers ahead.

In the season seven episode titled “The Fixed Point”, the Legends – a misfit group of heroes who try to protect the timeline – find themselves at an otherworldly bar that is popular with time travellers. Some of the Legends team up for a mission that left Zari Tomaz (Tala Ashe) and Esperanza “Spooner” Cruz (Lisseth Chavez) having to time to connect with each other.

In one scene, Zari and Spooner are sitting at a bar when Zari suggests they play “Smash, Marry, Kill” to pass the time. Zari named off several of the characters in the Legends, but Spooner awkwardly admitted she isn’t “into any of them”.

After a second round of the game, Zari outright asked Spooner what “type” of person she is attracted to.

“I don’t really get those types of feelings for anyone,” Spooner said.

She then joked that it might be “one of those things” that the “mushroom aliens”, which appeared in an earlier season of Legends of Tomorrow, “messed up about me”.

But Zari quickly assured Spooner that what she was describing is totally normal and even suggested that she might be asexual. Zari explained that asexual people have “little to no interest in sex” but many “still want to be in relationships”.

Honestly, it’s like a lightbulb went off in Spooner’s mind, and she smiled as she affirms that she is ace.

“OMG, did you just come out to me?” Zari asked.

“I guess I just did,” Spooner responded.

Legends of Tomorrow fans were absolutely over the moon at the heartwarming scene, welcoming the asexual hero.

 

Spooner has joined the growing number of LGBT+ characters on TV, but she is sadly still among the small number of openly asexual characters in pop culture.

GLAAD publishes an annual report on queer representation in TV, and it was until the 2017-2018 season that the LGBT+ media monitoring organisation was able to count an asexual regular or recurring character on TV.

In the years since, GLAAD has only been able to track a handful of asexual characters on TV including Shadowhunters vampire Raphael and Todd Chavez on BoJack Horseman.

So Spooner coming out scene on Legends of Tomorrow is quite significant as she would be the first openly asexual superhero to appear on TV.

Adam P Knave, who co-wrote the comic Once and Future Queen, described the TV show as the “queerest thing in the superhero toolbelt” and said it was “great to see them continue the trend” with Spooner’s asexuality storyline, ComicBook.com reported.

“Everyone these days is very open to ‘this character is gay, this character is bisexual’… Supergirl introducing a trans character was phenomenal and groundbreaking, this feels just as big,” Knave said.

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