The new Superman, Jonathan Kent, is bisexual, DC Comics announced on the ‘National Coming Out Day’ (11 October). Jonathan is the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The series writer Tom Taylor told New York Times that replacing Clark Kent with another heterosexual ‘white saviour’ felt like a “missed opportunity”.
“I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes and I’m very grateful DC and Warner Bros share this idea. Superman’s symbol has always stood for hope, for truth and for justice. Today, that symbol represents something more. Today, more people can see themselves in the most powerful superhero in comics,” Tom Taylor said in a statement.
Other than a more evolved look at sexuality, the new issues also reportedly show Superman addressing refugee deportation, and high school shootings. Superman’s new love interest is his friend, reporter Jay Nakamura. Nakamura takes care of Superman after he experiences a ‘burnout’ from “trying to save everyone that he can.”
This new romance is featured in the issue ‘Superman: Son of Kal-El #5’, set to be released in November. There has been a rise in superhero films steering away from the traditional portrayal of superheroes.
While Tessa Thompson’s character Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok was revealed to be bisexual only in a tweet by the actor, and Deadpool’s sexual fluidity isn’t really explored, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s release Eternals features MCU’s first openly gay superhero Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry). The movie is also set to feature MCU’s first queer kiss between Phastos and his husband (Haaz Sleiman).
Comic writers had also indicated that the ‘God of Mischief’ Loki is bisexual but it was only confirmed after the series Loki premiered on Disney+. Director Kate Herron had confirmed the news in a tweet, “From the moment I joined @LokiOfficial it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual. It is a part of who he is and who I am too.”
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