‘Supergirl’: First Look at Nicole Maines in Costume as Dreamer

The CW has released the first look at Dreamer, Nia Nal’s superhero identity from Supergirl.

The character, played by transgender actor Nicole Maines, debuted as a supporting player in the newsroom at the beginning of the season, but will debut as a costumed superhero on the February 17 episode of Supergirl. The character is based on Nura Nal, the Legion of Super-Heroes member initially known as Dream Girl in comics. Created by Edmond Hamilton and John Forte in 1964, Dream Girl was an alien with precognitive abilities. The Dreamer identity debuted in 1996 in a story by Tom Peyer, Tom McGraw, and Lee Moder.

“I’m so excited. I’m trying to conduct myself on set in a professional manner, and be like ‘I’m not completely obsessed with the super-suit,’ but it’s all I think about,” Maines said during a visit to the Supergirl set. “Every morning I wake up, ‘I’m getting a supersuit!’ I’m going to sleep, ‘I’m getting a super-suit!’ I’m really, really excited. It’s gonna be gorgeous! I have the best super-suit. I do.”

According to Warner Bros. Television, on the January 27th episode of Supergirl, entitled “Blood Memory,” the audience will learn about Nia’s backstory, how she came to get her powers, and what troubles come with them. By the end of the episode, we will get a glimpse at the costume…but the first look at Nicole fully suited up in episode 412, entitled “Menagerie,” which airs February 17.

In the comics, Menagerie was a member of Manchester Black’s team of antiheroes known as The Elite.

You can see the costume below.

Even with all of that excitement, Maines’s first experience with the suit sounds like it may have been a little bit comical and less than fully inspiring.

“Constricting. Tight,” she said when asked what it was like wearing Dreamer’s costume at first. “For the first time it was for a fitting, so they have the model and they have your sizes, but when you first put it on in person, they kind of realize, ‘Okay, this needs to go up more, this needs to be hemmed,’ or ‘wow, you can’t get your arm through this.’ So, constricting.”

Given that the comics-version of Dreamer is an alien, it’s entirely possible that we’ll see that come into play on Supergirl this season. Supergirl may be at her peak as a hero currently, but all is not well in National City or in the United States. There’s a serious anti-alien sentiment that is growing rapidly. As things continue to develop, if Nia is of alien origin standing up for others may well be what propels her into heroics.

Supergirl airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT, before episodes of Charmed on The CW.