First Impressions of Zari Tomaz, Muslim American Superhero on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
As you may have guessed, I’m very behind on the CW DC TV shows (aka the “Arrowverse”). I admittedly stopped watching Arrow after season 3 (more on that later), but continued to watch The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow. As excited as I was to hear about a Muslim American superhero character being introduced on the show, the past year was quite busy for me (in a good way) and I got behind on my favorite shows!
I’m currently watching season 3 of Supergirl, season 4 of The Flash, and season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow. Last night, I finally got to the episode where we are introduced to Zari Tomaz, played by Tala Ashe, who is Iranian and Muslim American herself. I’m usually anxious with the way Muslim characters are portrayed in mainstream films and TV shows, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with how Zari is depicted. The Legends of Tomorrow team find her in the year 2042, where she is a hacker, rebel, and fugitive hunted by the A.R.G.U.S.-controlled government.
It’s a dystopian future where the government uses drones and martial law to enforce the Anti-Metahuman Act, where it is not only illegal to be a metahuman, but also illegal to practice Islam and other religions. I’m not a fan of the “all religions are banned” narrative because it’s hard to imagine a white supremacist future where Christian supremacy is non-existent, but it was nice to see an intersectional approach to a superhero character. That is, her racial and religious identities are taken into account in addition to her metahuman status. Her Muslimness is not erased by the latter. In other words, it makes sense that a Muslim woman of color with superpowers would be a threat to the state, right?
I like the fact there weren’t any negative stereotypes or tropes about her family (so far). We don’t see her family on screen, but she talks about her brother being murdered when police forces raided their home. Again, typically in western depictions of Muslim characters, we hear about them being oppressed by the Taliban (like X-Men’s Sooraya Qadir/Dust) or rejected by their own community. Rarely do I find stories that acknowledge Muslims as being targeted by institutionalized Islamophobia and western state violence. It was powerful to see that here.
The primary reason why I stopped watching Arrow is because of how Islamophobic it was getting, particularly with Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins. While Ra’s Al Ghul never explicitly identified as Muslim, he quoted the Qur’an frequently and recited Islamic prayers in Arabic (badly). I was uncomfortable with the way the show played up Orientalist and Islamophobic stereotypes. What makes Islamophobia in media so unsettling and harmful is that people project these stereotypes unto us. Throughout my life, for instance, I’d hear classmates, teachers, co-workers, and even friends draw conclusions about Muslims and my faith based on negative depictions they saw. After debating with people online about Islamophobia on Arrow, I remember saying at one point, why not have a Muslim superhero character on the show? Needless to say, a character like Zari was long overdue.
I appreciated how Zari’s introduction episode doesn’t over-emphasize the fact that she’s Muslim. Too often, depictions of Muslims focus exclusively on their religious identity and fail to portray them as complex, three dimensional human beings. I’ve felt for a long time that what we need to see are Muslim characters who are (1) played by Muslims and (2) treated like real people. The way Ashe and the writers approach Zari seems to be more well-developed and nuanced than how we’re used to seeing Muslims depicted.
There are also no tropes about overprotective parents who are trying to force her to marry someone. She’s not a character who requires saving by the other superhero characters. In fact, the moment we meet her, we take note that she is able to stand on her own. Although there’s an inaccurate use of the word “Jannah,” she seems to be unapologetic about being Muslim (again, so far). My hope is that the show continues to portray Islam as a source of strength for Zari, not a burden.
The only major problem I had with this episode is that she is also being targeted by a supervillain played by a Black woman. As much as I appreciated the way Zari is portrayed, I don’t think many filmmakers pay attention to racial dynamics in their casting of villains. Yes, there is Amaya, who is also a Black woman and ally to Zari, but I think having women of color fight each other is counter-productive and harmful. I’ve written about this before, but I’m generally not a fan of villains of color (superpowered or otherwise).
Anyway, I’m interested to continue watching the show, but more interested to hear how Muslim women are responding to Zari’s character. I look forward to finding posts written by Muslim woman about her character and will be linking to them here.
