Former “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” actor Dean Cain weighed in on the news that the new Superman, Jonathan Kent, is bisexual, accusing DC Comics of “bandwagoning” and suggesting comics company could do more to shed a light on “real evil” in the world, like child trafficking and women being oppressed and killed in Afghanistan.
As The Daily Wire noted Tuesday, the new Superman, Jonathan Kent, who is the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, is expected to come out as bisexual and will share a kiss with his boyfriend Jay Nakamura in “Superman: Son of Kal-El,” issue #5. Comics writer Tom Taylor said the decision to make Jon Kent gay was a deliberate response to “queer characters” being marginalized. Taylor said he wanted to subvert the comic’s “straight white savior” narrative.
“Over the years in this industry, it probably won’t surprise you to hear I’ve had queer characters and storylines rejected. I felt like I was letting down people I loved every time this happened” Taylor told IGN. “But we are in a very different and much more welcome place today than we were ten, or even five years ago. When I was asked if I wanted to write a new Superman with a new #1 for the DC Universe, I knew replacing Clark with another straight white savior could be a real opportunity missed.”
To Cain, however, who spent four seasons playing the Man of Steel on television, Taylor’s decision is far from original. Cain called the move, “bandwagoning,” pointing out that other DC heroes — including the most recent version of Robin, Batman’s sidekick — have also recently come out as LGBT.
“It’s hard for me to keep track of all the different Supermen and the different worlds and adventures that he has in the comics,” Cain said, noting that “Son of Kal-El” is only one series of dozens featuring Superman, his offspring, and his partners. “They said it’s a bold new direction. I say they’re bandwagoning.”
“I don’t think it’s bold or brave or some crazy new direction. If they had done this 20 years ago, perhaps that would be bold or brave. But brave would be having him fight for the rights of gay people in Iran where they’ll throw you off a building for the offense of being gay,” Cain added.
The new Superman, Jon Kent, has had a short run as the Man of Steel so far, but his comics have seen him focused largely on battling a new generation of villains, like “hacktivists” and those who would subvert efforts to combat climate change.
“Why don’t they have him fight the injustices that created the refugees whose deportation he’s protesting? That would be brave, I’d read that. Or fighting for the rights of women to attend school and have the ability to work and live and boys not to be raped by men under the new warm and fuzzy Taliban,” Cain said.
“There’s real evil in this world today, real corruption and government overreach,” he added. “It’d be great to tackle those issues, shine a light on those issues. I’d like to see the character doing that.”