We take a look at some of the more obscure superheroes, and this week we're profiling Nubia, DC Comics' first Black female superhero.[1]
Nubia debuted in January 1973 in Wonder Woman #204, created by Robert Kanigher and Don Heck. In her original story, she was introduced as Diana's long-lost twin, both sculpted from clay by Queen Hippolyta and brought to life by the gods, but Nubia was raised separately and grew into a warrior powerful enough to match Diana in combat. She appeared on and off through Wonder Woman's stories over the following decades.[1][2]
Nubia has had a real resurgence in modern DC continuity. She featured prominently in the 2021 Future State event as a future Wonder Woman, got her own young-adult graphic novel, Nubia: Real One, and headlined the 2021-2022 series Nubia & the Amazons, in which she's crowned Queen of the Amazons, ruling alongside Diana.[1] A sequel graphic novel, Nubia: Too Real, followed in September 2025, sending her back to Themyscira for Amazon training.[3]
She still hasn't appeared in live action, but that may not last. Asked directly about bringing her into the rebooted DC Universe, DC Studios co-head James Gunn said in mid-2025, "Yes, we are very much talking about that. I want to have all sorts of people represented in the DCU." The likeliest home for her debut is Paradise Lost, a prequel series set on Themyscira before Diana's birth,[2] though she could also turn up in a supporting role in the still-unwritten-into-production Wonder Woman film, which has a script from Ana Nogueira but no director or Diana attached yet.[4]
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