First look at Nancy Drew spin-off star Tom Swift reveals titular gay billionaire's chic style

Tom Swift has arrived on Nancy Drew, and The Claw has never looked this good.

EW has your exclusive first look at the new character played by Tian Richards, first appearing in episode 15 before potentially launching his own solo spin-off series, Tom Swift, which is currently in development at the CW and based on the classic book series of the same name. Check out Tom and his chic style that's definitely fish-out-of-water for Horseshoe Bay's main restaurant in the first look photo below.

Tom, the titular Black, gay, billionaire inventor, crashes into one of Nancy's (Kennedy McMann) investigations in the May 12 episode "The Celestial Visitor," when Nancy interprets an event as supernatural, and Tom believes it to be cosmically paranormal. And if Tom Swift goes to series, the new show will follow Tom as he's thrust into a world of sci-fi conspiracy and unexplained phenomena. After the shocking disappearance of his father, he goes on a road trip in a quest to unravel the truth, leaving behind the comforts of his usual moneyed lifestyle, all while fighting to stay one step ahead of an Illuminati-like group hell-bent on stopping him. Tom's missions will require his genius and flair for innovation, guided by love, romance, friendship, and the mysteries of the universe yet unsolved. 

"We're excited about bringing a story that has both sci-fi but also Blackness, and joy, and pride, and love, and romance," showrunner Noga Landau previously told EW of the potential spin-off. "Something that I'm personally most excited about with Tom Swift is that it's going to be an epic cosmic romance that positions a queer Black man right in the middle of it as the object of desire and as the alpha male of the story. That's just so important to put on screen right now."

"In addition to that, what we're hoping if we should be so lucky to get a series order, is that the other person in that triangle is going to be a man of trans experience, and his love story and his being the object of desire for a young woman who's in the Swift squad," showrunner Melinda Hsu Taylor added. "That is going to be another really great thing to explore and for people to feel like, 'Oh, that's me.' We want to make it something that feels like it's both a world that we haven't seen before, but also one that we can relate to no matter what your background is and that we could aspire to also no matter what your background is or whatever your particular preferences are. It's just the common humanity under all of the cosmic wonder."

Richards is best known for playing Marcus in Netflix's Dumplin', and was most recently seen in Burden opposite Forest Whitaker, which was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival. His other credits include Being Mary Jane, The Neighborhood, 24: Legacy, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and A Bad Moms Christmas.

Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.

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• The CW developing Nancy Drew spin-off Tom Swift for expanded 'Drew-niverse'