Tom Swift sizzles in first-look trailer that reintroduces Nancy Drew spin-off series

Sydney Bucksbaum
·3 min read
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Tom Swift sizzles in first-look trailer that reintroduces Nancy Drew spin-off series
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Nancy Drew, we're not in Horseshoe Bay anymore.

Tian Richards already made his debut as Tom Swift on one of the best episodes of Nancy Drew yet, but get ready to see him in a whole new light on his own show — and EW has your exclusive first look at the trailer for the Tom Swift spin-off that reintroduces Richards as the titular gay Black genius billionaire playboy.

There's so much more to him than what was in last year's backdoor pilot that aired as a season 2 episode of Nancy Drew, and Tom absolutely sizzles onscreen — he literally sets off sparks! — as the trailer shows just how glamorous and mysterious his life is. Described as a "devilishly charming" inventor with "unlimited resources and unimaginable wealth," Tom is someone who many men would kill to be, or be with. But his entire world gets turned upside down when his father mysteriously disappears, and he'll stop at nothing to discover the truth of what happened. Tom finds himself thrust into a breathtaking adventure full of conspiracies and unexplained phenomena as he fights to stay one step ahead of an Illuminati-scale cabal hellbent on stopping him.

Tom Swift
Tom Swift

The CW

"I just want it to help our culture understand we can be all of the things — queer doesn't look one way, being a Black man doesn't look one way, and being both of those doesn't look one way, so we're putting a different face to it and showing that it can be so many different versions," Richards previously told EW about debuting his new version of the classic literary character. "The way we're able to bridge together what Tom was historically known as in the earlier novels and the impact that he had on so many different people in tech, and now we're getting to see him exist in today's world in such a different form, that is so cool. When I read the books, I wasn't able to relate to the source material for several reasons because in the early 1910s and '20s, the all-American boy was represented by this blond-haired, blue-eyed white kid that was of the times. But now to see me, this 20-something Black queer man step into that and to be just as cool and to see the world represented and reflected how it is now? For my younger self to see that, I mean, come on, I get goosebumps just thinking about that!"

The series, which is a reimagining of the teen inventor character from the 1910 book Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle, also stars LeVar Burton, Ashleigh Murray, Marquise Vilsón, April Parker Jones, and Albert Mwangi. Nancy Drew showrunners Melinda Hsu Taylor and Noga Landau co-created the spin-off along with writer Cameron Johnson, who all serve as executive producers along with Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

Tom Swift premieres Tuesday, May 31, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, but check out the exclusive first look at the new series above now.

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