Last month, The CW network ordered a pilot for the Naomi show developed by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship which would be based on the DC Comics character who starred in her own Eisner Award-winning 2019 miniseries co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and illustrated by Jamal Campbell. Today it was officially announced that actress Kaci Walfall has been cast as the show’s lead, Naomi McDuffie.
Per Deadline, the character on the series is described as thus:
Walfall’s Naomi is an effortlessly cool and confident high school student who is the adopted daughter of doting parents. Popular with all the kids in her military town, Naomi is unafraid to embrace her AP-student, comic book–loving nerdiness. After a supernatural event leads to the discovery of her powers within, Naomi pursues her hidden destiny.
In addition to Kaci Walfall, three additional actors have been cast for the series; Alexander Wraith as Dee, the owner of a local tattoo parlor, Cranston Johnson as Zumbado, the mysterious owner of a local used car lot, and newcomer Camila Moreno as Lourdes, a young woman with a sarcastic sense of humor who works in a vintage collectibles shop.
Fans will recognize Wraith’s character Dee and Zumbado as characters from the original Naomi comic series. Lourdes meanwhile appears to be an original character created for the live-action series. Moreover, per the Deadline description, “she has an unrequited crush on Naomi, and she shares her obsession with classic comics. She is also happy to join in on Naomi’s schemes.
Bendis, Walker, and Campbell have teased a sequel miniseries for the original Naomi series, though with all three of them having other commitments it may be a while before that arrives. In the meantime the character will be featured in Bendis’ Justice League lineup, which just launched this week with Justice League #59.
