Watch: First Trailer Drops for New CW Series 'Tom Swift' Featuring a Black Gay Lead Character
The first trailer has dropped for the "Nancy Drew" spinoff series "Tom Swift," featuring a gay, Black version of the iconic adventure hero, Entertainment Weekly reported.
"Tian Richards already made his debut as Tom Swift on one of the best episodes of 'Nancy Drew' yet, but get ready to see him in a whole new light on his own show," EW said.
As previously reported at EDGE, being gay was a prominent part of the character's depiction when he made a guest appearance on "Nancy Drew." Sparks flew between Tom Swift and "Nancy Drew" regular character Nick (Tunji Kasim), leading to an onscreen kiss.
But, the EW report added, "There's so much more to him than what was in last year's backdoor pilot that aired as a season 2 episode of 'Nancy Drew,' and Tom absolutely sizzles onscreen."
EDGE noted in an earlier report on Tian Richards' casting that series co-creator Noga Landau was specific about the show featuring an updated version of the classic character that would be a better fit for the times.
"Something that I'm personally most excited about with 'Tom Swift' is that it's going to be an epic cosmic romance that positions a queer Black man right in the middle of it as the object of desire and as the alpha male of the story," Landau told EW. "That's just so important to put on screen right now."
EW sketched out the show's premise:
"Described as a 'devilishly charming' inventor with 'unlimited resources and unimaginable wealth,' Tom is someone who many men would kill to be, or be with. But his entire world gets turned upside down when his father mysteriously disappears, and he'll stop at nothing to discover the truth of what happened."
The original Tom Swift books had a focus on science and technology, so it's only fitting that the new series will have a fantastical bent, pitting its hero against a powerful cabal and dropping him "into a world of sci-fi conspiracy and unexplained phenomena," as the Hollywood Reporter detailed.
The popular children's adventure novels featuring Tom Swift were first published in 1910, with new books appearing on-and-off up until 2007, according to Wikipedia. The various series of "Tom Swift" adventure novels were created by the same company behind both the "Nancy Drew" books and "The Hardy Boys" mystery adventure series.
To watch the new trailer below.