The CW’s new drama Trickster is not like any other you’ll seen American television.

Not because it’s a Canadian import; there’s plenty of those on television. But Trickster features a lead cast that is almost entirely Indigenous and First Nations talent, gathered together to tell a modern Indigenous story.

Trickster is based on the bestselling trilogy of novels by Eden Robinson, and tells the story of the Indigenous Gothic, spirits, ancient magic, deadly rites of passage in a coming of age story unlike any you’ve ever seen.  

Jared (Joel Oulette) is an Indigenous teen struggling to help his dysfunctional family. Jared holds down an after-school job and dabbles in drug chemistry a la Walter White: he cooks ecstasy on the side to support his parents, who have separated. His mom Maggie (Crystle Lightning), self-medicates an undiagnosed mental illness, and his perpetually jobless dad Phil (Craig Lauzon), has a painkiller addiction and a new girlfriend.

When Jared starts seeing strange things – talking ravens, doppelgängers, skin monsters – his already chaotic life is upended. At first, he thinks he’s losing his mind, but the supernatural events surrounding him are all too real, to his relief…and terror. 

Jared has a vision of Raven, or Wee’git, who appears in the guise of a man named Wade (Kalani Queypo). It turns out there is a family connection, as the story begins when Raven attempts to steal a child from a troubled woman. That woman is Maggie, Jared’s mom. Wade returns 17 years later to draw on his mysterious connection to Jared. 

The Trickster cast includes Kalani Queypo as Wade, Anna Lambe as Sarah, Nathan Alexis as Crashpad, Joel Thomas Hynes as Richie, Gail Maurice as Georgina and as Georgina Lightning as Sophia. 

In other CW news, Variety reports that the network passed on a possible series spun off from Arrow. Green Arrow and the Canaries would have featured Mia Queen (Katherine McNamara), Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) and Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) defending Star City 20 years in the future. A backdoor pilot aired in January 2020 as part of “Arrow” Season 8, but that project is officially dead. A prequel to The 100 is still an option for the network’s next season.