The Power of Three is coming back to TV, and we are so excited that the new reboot of Charmed will star a Latinx cast. And, as Variety reports, the fictional and real-life ethnicities of the Vera sisters (Sarah Jeffrey, Melonie Diaz, and Madeleine Mantock) will be a huge part of the show, right down to its writing staff. It’s a step forward for Latinx representations, and brujas everywhere are praising the orishas.
“We have a real Latinx witch in our writers’ room,” said executive producer Amy Rardin. The new Charmed is also executive produced by Jennie Snyder Urman, who created Jane the Virgin, another show with a Latinx leading cast.
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Latinx cultures have always been part of the greater witchcraft community. These practices are still much active today — even though popular culture rarely depicts witchcraft outside of Eurocentrism. Rardin spoke directly to this disparity at the PaleyFest Fall TV Preview: “Every culture has their own witchcraft traditions, and we really wanted to explore not just from a Salem witchcraft but all kinds of different witchcraft that happens all around the world,” she said. From Santería in Afro-Caribbean countries, to curanderx practitioners who work out of botánicas, their practices come from indigenous beliefs and Catholic religious traditions during colonization, and are every bit as valid as Wicca and quartz crystals.
Of course, the new iteration of Charmed will still feature the things we loved most about the original show: fearless, hilarious sisters who kick some serious demonic ass. But in 2018, they’ll also be dealing with social forces, like “women handling current issues,” said executive producer Jessica O’Toole. “Even before the election, we always wanted to explore that link between strong women and witchcraft,” she said.
This means that the Charmed Ones won’t shy away from issues that have cropped up post-2016. We’re excited to see if the Vera sisters tackle the #MeToo movement and the immigration crisis. Talk about a real witch hunt. With the power of Latinx history and feminism behind them, evil forces won’t know what spells hexed them.