Following the announcement of
casting actor Esai Morales as Deathstroke, DC Universe's live-action
Titans has cast Chella Man as Jericho, a hero in his own right and the son of DC's famed mercenary.
Though he's not a big name in Hollywood, Man, who self-identifies as deaf, genderqueer and a queer artist, has seen his profile grow both as a deaf activist and as a model. In 2017, the Jewish/Chinese-American actor began to transition from female to male and has quickly become a noted figure in LGBTQ+ circles, documenting his transition on
Instagram,
YouTube and a series of columns for
them.
Jericho made his DC Comics debut in 1984's
Tales of the Teen Titans #43 (after making a cameo appearance in Issue #42), by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, and has the power to possess anyone upon making eye contact with them. The character has always used sign language to communicate with his teammates, as he was rendered mute early in his life by kidnappers who were attempting to blackmail his father. Though he's played the villain from time to time over the years, Jericho has generally been one of the more pure-hearted members of the team of young heroes. While the original version of the hero's sexuality was never really explored, Jericho's modern comics incarnation is bisexual, and his personality has more edge to it than the original.
