The A League of Their Own series will also introduce new characters, including Chanté Adams‘ Max Chapman, a Black baseball player who is based on three real woman. “Their stories are fu–ing incredible and Penny Marshall, in the film,” Jacobson said, “was nodding to them when that foul ball is thrown back by a Black woman.”
But Max isn’t just used to discuss race within the league. As Chanté told The Hollywood Reporter, “She is many things and does not want to be labeled as just one thing. She’s also trying to figure out exactly who she is.”
More than that, the series will openly discuss sexuality and gender identity, which Marshall merely alluded to in her film. For the creators, it was important to explore these topics because of how it affected the players. Graham said, “As we started to look more into the stories underneath it, we were like, ‘Oh, there’s a gigantic story here that hasn’t been told about queer women and women of color and ultimately joy—the work that goes into joy and finding a way to do the thing that you love in a world that doesn’t want you to.”