A new hero is coming to the DC Comics universe next month when, after her introduction in Season 4 of The CW’s Supergirl, fan-favorite Nia Nal/Dreamer makes her way to the pages of Superman: Son of Kal-El #13. On Supergirl, Dreamer was played by Nicole Maines and Maines is helping bring Dreamer to comics as well, co-writing the issue with series writer Tom Taylor. The character’s arrival comes at an important time as things with Henry Bendix and Lex Luthor start to escalate and now, Taylor and Maines tease Dreamer’s arrival with Maines calling the hero “the Paul Revere of DC Comics.”
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Taylor and Maines teased that Dreamer will make a major entrance and that she comes with quite a bit with her in terms of questions, problems, and solutions.
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“She arrives with a bang into the DC Universe,” Taylor said.
“She arrives with a bang, arrives with a question, she arrives with a problem and a solution,” Maines added.
For Taylor, Dreamer’s arrival is perfect timing. He noted that the story thus far has hinted that something terrible is coming and there’s no one better to sound the alarm than Dreamer.
“The story that we’re currently telling, there was this moment that was perfect for Dreamer to arrive,” Taylor said. “We’ve sort of hinted that Henry Bendix and Lex Luthor and these people are doing something terrible and something terrible is coming and who better to know what that is and give the warning and literally do the things that’s going to save the world than Dreamer, for her to come up and say ‘this is what’s coming. This is what needs to happen.’”
For Maines, Dreamer’s unique position sets her up to be a major, and important force.
“Is she the Paul Revere of DC Comics?” Maines said. “Yes.”
In Superman: Son of Kal-El #13, “It’s the dramatic DC Universe debut of Dreamer! When every hero on Earth is threatened by Henry Bendix’s machinations, it’s a race against time for Dreamer to warn Superman before it happens! But will this mysterious new ally’s premonition become a nightmare for Jonathan Kent?”
It sounds like a major adventure with some seriously high stakes, but it also won’t be the last we see of Dreamer — or of Maines’ work with the character. It was recently announced that a Dreamer original graphic novel is in the works with Maines writing, and it’s a story that will dig into Nia’s early years and her relationship with her sister, something that was only hinted at on Supergirl.
“I’m really excited about it because with Superman coming out first it really teed us up perfectly for this graphic novel where it’s sort of just like, setting it up,” Maines said. “The graphic novel is all about a young, 15-year-old Nia Nal, who has just discovered that she has these powers. Before she is saving Superman and Jay and every other superhero, before she is coming in and saving the day, she is confronted with these powers that were never supposed to be hers. And it is basically following her fight or flight response to realizing that she has essentially stolen her sister’s powers.”
“Her relationship with her sister was so complicated and it was so unhealthy,” Maines continued. “And we’re really, really taking a look at that and that is the focus of this. It is really analyzing how unhealthy that relationship was for Nia and then as she’s going on this journey, she’s learning first of all what a sisterly relationship should feel like and how to live her life for herself. Not for us to live for other people. How to be the main character in your own damn story.”
Dreamer arrives in the DC Universe in Superman: Son of Kal-El #13, on sale July 12th.
