Meet the Arrowverse Justice Society of America

[Frontier]

The JSA of Legends of Tomorrow.

[Professor Moriarty]

I don't recall Dr. Midnight being a black man.

[Frontier]

I don't recall Dr. Midnight being a black man.

I don't recall them ever announcing casting Dr. Mid-Nite .

[Jim Kelly]

Doctor Midnight is a black woman. [Note the spelling.]

[Frontier]

I think Stargirl and Vixen are the best looking and best adapted costumes out of the JSA, though Stargirl's is very...form-fitting .

It's weird that they never announced someone playing Dr. Mid-Nite, yet here he is. Anybody recognize the actor? I wonder which Mid-Nite this is too.

Boo, no metal mohawk for Commander Steel!

I'm actually kinda surprised Stargirl's apparently a member of the WWII JSA since she's supposed to be a member of the modern incarantion, which makes me wonder what happened to the JSA and whether the group is going to be completely relegated to WWII .

[Kit Walker]

I don't recall Dr. Midnight being a black man.

I don't recall there being any black members of the JSA until 2000 nor any black Golden Age-era heroes until 1983. Unless they want the All-White Squadron to be the heroes of the 40s, some compromises were gonna have to be made. Merging elements of Dr. Mid-Nite and Dr. Midnight is a pretty simple one.

I also don't recall Stargirl or Obsidian being active in the 40's or Vixen's grandma being in the JSA, but you don't see to have a problem with those changes.

[GlennSimpson]

I actually kinda struggle with the dilemma of having a diverse cast vs. being somewhat historically accurate (as it relates to the most likely attitudes of the culture being depicted at a certain point in time, not as it relates to the comics).

I see this sometimes in things like Doctor Who, when they have a black man on President Nixon's secret service staff. I'm no expert on the Secret Service but I find it hard to believe that would have been the case.

NOTE: If there's at least one comment where someone at least addresses it, that's pretty much all I need. "we don't care what everybody else thinks" or some such.

[Kit Walker]

I actually kinda struggle with the dilemma of having a diverse cast vs. being somewhat historically accurate (as it relates to the most likely attitudes of the culture being depicted at a certain point in time, not as it relates to the comics).

So "The Avenger" was a Pulp Hero whose adventures were published in magazine form from 1939 to 1941. The Avenger lead a team of crimefighers known as Justice, Inc., which included among its member Josh & Rosabel Newton. They were highly intelligent graduates of the Tuskegee Institute who were both more than capable of handling themselves in the team's investigations (and the life threatening situations that usually resulted), hung out with their teammates when not on missions, and liked (particularly Josh) to adopt the servile and unintelligent mannerisms that people we'd call bigots today expect out of black folks for the express purpose of being underestimated (tricking foes into tipping hands that they'd have guarded more closely around the Newtons' white colleagues).

My point being that even back in less egalitarian times, there were works that were more than content to portray "diverse" line-ups (Justice, Inc. also included Nellie Gray, a beautiful little slip of a woman that happened to be a rough and tumble Judo master able to toss around men three times her size), people happy to write them, and audiences happy to read them. And even the less egalitarian folks could be pragmatic - Harry Truman was far from sanguine about the equality of the races, but he desegregated the army and ended a nearly two decade practice that saw the black staff in the White House hide whenever the President was coming just the same.

I see this sometimes in things like Doctor Who, when they have a black man on President Nixon's secret service staff. I'm no expert on the Secret Service but I find it hard to believe that would have been the case.

Quick bit of googling shows that the first African American Secret Service agent was appointed by Kennedy in 1961. He had a brief career that ended in charges of bribery, but its nevertheless not outside the realm of possibility that there'd be a second such agent by 1969. Espcially since we're talking about a world that's had The Doctor and assorted tourists mucking about with its history.

[Jim Kelly]

I don't know what's going to happen in the second season--and I don't want to know (no spoilers please)--but I'm guessing there's going to be some mucking around with time.

I like the look of Stargirl. It's kind of a relief to see that bright costume, given all the dark outfits in that shot. But I never thought she would be that tall. Or is it the case where the other actors are that short?

I'm expecting to see a Mr. Terrific played by the same actor who plays Curtis Holt on ARROW. But I'd prefer him to be either a grandfather of Curtis or a decendent of Curtis from the future. Likewise, if they could get Katie Cassidy to guest star as the grandmother of Laurel and Sara, that would be a dream come true.

[Toreador]

The costumes are dark (except for Stargirl naturally). Would have like a little more color in there but I guess it being in WWII the world is a little grim and the outfits reflect that. I wonder if Stargirl's outfit is more colorful due to her origin of being some kind of morale booster for the civilians like Steve Rogers was in the Captain America movie.

Glad she's wearing a better mask than the one on Superboy.

[AndrewBatman82]

they need their own show and it would be fun to watch

[Osiris-Rex]

I like the look of Stargirl. It's kind of a relief to see that bright costume, given all the dark outfits in that shot. But I never thought she would be that tall. Or is it the case where the other actors are that short?

Sarah Grey is 5'81/2", about the same height as Melissa Benoist. Ciara Renée (Hawkgirl) is also 5'8". I guess being tall is a requirement for a superhero with girl in the name.

[Jim Kelly]

I have no idea what age Courtney is supposed to be now in the DC books or in the TV show. I was a big fan of her own comic and the JSA comic, when she was the Star-Spangled Kid and she was only around 15 or 16 years old. So the height suggests she's a lot older than that.

But I also wasn't sure about the height comparison--because sometimes they hire short male actors, so that could have explained it.

[Frontier]

I have no idea what age Courtney is supposed to be now in the DC books or in the TV show. I was a big fan of her own comic and the JSA comic, when she was the Star-Spangled Kid and she was only around 15 or 16 years old. So the height suggests she's a lot older than that.

But I also wasn't sure about the height comparison--because sometimes they hire short male actors, so that could have explained it.

I imagine she's probably in the same 18-19 range as some of the other young or teenage heroes in the Arrowverse.

[Huntsman Spider]

I have no idea what age Courtney is supposed to be now in the DC books or in the TV show. I was a big fan of her own comic and the JSA comic, when she was the Star-Spangled Kid and she was only around 15 or 16 years old. So the height suggests she's a lot older than that.

But I also wasn't sure about the height comparison--because sometimes they hire short male actors, so that could have explained it.

By the end of the pre-Flashpoint comics, Courtney was starting college, so she was at least 18 years old. When she was first introduced in the New 52 Justice League of America, she was said to be 17. Depending on the passage of time between her first New 52 appearance and the present, she might be 18 by now.

As for the height issue, some girls do become considerably taller than average in their teen years.