A 19-year-old deaf, Asian, transgender YouTuber named Chella Man recently announced that he’ll play mute bisexual hero Jericho in the DC Universe series Titans, making him the first openly queer character to appear on the show.
The fact that the show hired a disabled actor to play a disabled character is a huge deal seeing as most shows never bother to do this—it’s a huge win for the queer disabled community.
Titans follows a team of superheroes led by Batman’s former sidekick Robin as they delve into the mysterious pasts of Raven, a moody girl with dark powers, and Starfire, an intergalactic huntress. The show is much darker and more violent than the CW’s DC superhero shows.
Related: Comics News: Gay Heroes Swoop Into Teen Titans And Captain America Spin-Off Series
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Here’s Jericho’s official character description:
Son of the infamous DC villain Deathstroke … Joseph Wilson is the Titan known as Jericho. Mute after his father failed to rescue him from having his vocal cords severed by assassins, Jericho has the unique ability to possess anyone just by making eye contact. This gentle natured yet proud hero has proven himself a formidable Titan.
Titans first season premiered on October 12, 2018. Its second season will likely air sometime this year.
In an Instagram post announcing the news yesterday, Man wrote, “As a trans, deaf, Jewish person of color, I have always reminded myself of the power in my differences. It is a dream come true, now, as I will be able to showcase this power on the Titans. HUGE thank you to all who have supported me throughout this process!”
Man currently has over 215,000 YouTube subscribers and over 251,000 Instagram followers.
Last month, DC Universe presented gay actor Matt Bomer playing openly gay superhero Negative Man in its surrealist action series Doom Patrol.
CobraPowers
LMAO the level of identity politics pushed in comic books is beyond ridiculous at this point. Most people are not going to discriminate, but at the same time trying to make it seem like 0.3% of the population are about 20% of the population is quite silly.
Selverd
What are you talking about, Jericho being mute and bisexual? Because he was mute from the getgo since his infroduction in the 80s and he was originally intended to be gay as well but his creators decided it was too stereotypical since he was effeminate.
HankHarris
Very excited for this. I’ve been following Chella on Insta as he has been sharing his transition. He’s open and straightforward about his whole journey, and I’ve learned a lot.