Last fall, it was announced that trans nonbinary actor Zoe Terakes had been cast in the upcoming and highly anticipated Ironheartseries from Marvel.
While their role hasn’t been fully revealed, the casting call did offer some hints about what’s to come. Marvel Studios was searching for a trans actor to play a “character [who] will be smart, confident and with a mystical bent and unique sense of humor.”
Now the actor is offering a few more clues, not only about their character but more importantly what being the first trans actor in the MCU would have meant to them growing up.
Tarakes was in Park City, Utah in support of the premiere of their upcoming horror film Talk To Me (which was picked up by A24 for distribution at the fest) when the subject of their character in Ironheart came up during an interview with Collider.
zoe terakes on Instagram: "ciao melbourne"
“I think as trans people, growing up I didn’t get to see myself anywhere, so I didn’t really know that I existed,” Tarakes told Collider. “And especially not in a superhero show or movie. And so I think I just feel deeply grateful and moved that little trans kids and trans teens have something to look at and to know they exist and to know that they can have superpowers and that that’s where we belong. We don’t just belong in trauma stories on the fringes dying in things, you know? We belong there with the big guys. So yeah, it meant a lot to me.”
The comment about having “superpowers” caught fans’ eyes, who wonder if this is confirmation that Terakes’s character is, in fact, a superhero.
Ironheart focuses on the character of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a genius inventor who follows in the footsteps of Ironman by creating her own armor suit. Riri made their debut in the recent Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Also cast in a mystery role in the upcoming series is none other than Drag Race superstar Shea Couleé, who is rumored to be playing the role of Darkveil. The character was inspired by various drag queens, including Shea herself, according to creator Sina Grace.
While there are still plenty of questions left to be answered about the upcoming series, we'll just have to wait until Ironheart debuts this fall.
