The cast of DC Universe‘s Doom Patrol is getting a bit larger for the series’ upcoming second season. Last week, news broke that the misfit hero team would see the addition of Abigail Shapiro as Niles Caulder/The Chief’s daughter Dorothy and now it’s a figure from Vic Stone/Cyborg’s past that will be appearing in Season 2 as well. According to Deadline, NCIS: New Orleans actress Karen Obilom is set to appear in the recurring role of Roni Evans for Doom Patrol‘s second season.
Roni Evers is described as a military veteran with a mysterious past that Vic Stone (Jovian Wade) meets while attending a PTSD support group. Not much else is known about the character, but it appears that the show may be doing a gender bent take on Ronald Evers, a character that is part of Vic’s story in comics.
First appearing in Tales of the New Teen Titans #1 in 1982, Ron Evers was a friend of Vic’s who unfortunately fell into a life of crime due to his rough upbringing. When, after discovering that STAR Labs was selling Vic’s father Silas’ cybernetic technology to military contracts, Ron planted a bomb at STAR Labs and seemingly fell to his death after fighting with Cyborg. Ron was found by STAR Labs techs and turned into a cyborg like Vic but was unfortunately the property of STAR Labs and thus, offered up to the military for their purposes.
If Doom Patrol‘s Roni Evers is a play on Ron Evers, it will be interesting to see what they have in store for her “mysterious past”, especially since, in comics in addition to being an adversary of the Teen Titans, Ron went on to denounce all forms of technological advancement as a minister of the First Church of Anti-Technocracy. Whatever is in store, showrunner Jeremy Carver has previously teased that he has “wonderfully bizarre and crazy ideas” of where to take Doom Patrol in Season 2.
“We’ve introduced something of a major new character with the Chief’s daughter, and we have still simmering resentments between the team and the Chief that will have to be resolved one way or another,” Carver said. “We have over 50 years of current and Silver Age and Bronze Age Doom Patrol comics, which really have been a lifesaver and an absolute repository of some of the most wonderfully bizarre and crazy ideas, but also beautiful character moments and depictions. We went full steam into season 1 with a ‘smoke ’em if you got ’em’ attitude, and we intend to fully continue that in any potential season 2 to come. There’s a lot more where that came from.”
Obilom is currently a lead on BET‘s Games People Play which was renewed for a second season. She’s also appeared in HBO‘s Insecure, Netflix’s Medal of Honor, and CBS‘ NCIS: New Orleans.
The first season of Doom Patrol is now streaming on DC Universe.