Meet the first gay DC superhero to star in a film
Montoya is also known by her superhero alias, The Question (dc comics)
A new DC film is set to feature a lesbian superhero for the first time in the franchise’s history.
The news follows the revelation that a show about DC superhero Batwoman is in the works at The CW and intends to stay true to the comics, which feature a lesbian Batwoman who gets engaged to police detective Maggie Sawyer.
Birds of Prey, a spin-off from Academy Award-winning film Suicide Squad, will see Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn assemble an all-female group of heroes, according to TheWrap.
Montoya is a second-generation immigrant (dc comics)
Alongside Black Canary and Huntress, who have both featured in Arrow, and Cassandra Cain’s Orphan, the gang will include Renee Montoya, a lesbian Gotham City detective.
Over the course of the comics, Montoya, whose parents are both immigrants from the Dominican Republic, takes on the superhero identity of The Question.
She gets into a relationship with Kate Kane – also known as Batwoman – and is also outed as a lesbian and framed for murder by Two-Face after the supervillain falls in (obviously unrequited) love with her.
Montoya gets into a relationship with Kate Kane – also known as Batwoman (DC Comics)
The superhero can control her nervous system, deaden herself to physical pain, and is trained in hand-to-hand combat and Dragon Style Kung Fu – though she does also suffer from alcoholism.
Montoya has also featured in the Gotham TV series, but this will be her first time on the big screen.
The film, which is still called Untitled Girl Gang Movie for now, will be helmed by Cathy Yan, DC’s first Asian female director.
DC characters have led the way in LGBT representation, though up until now, it has been exclusively limited to TV shows.
DC has never before had an LGBT superhero on the big screen (dc comics)
In 2016, Supergirl‘s Alex Danvers came out as gay in a widely praised storyline which eventually saw her get together with police detective Maggie Sawyer.
The couple split up last year, a fact made especially interesting by this week’s Batwoman news, as Batwoman became engaged to Maggie in the comics.
Danvers and Sawyer (The CW)
Supergirl is also set to introduce its first ever transgender character, Nia Nal, later this year when it returns for the show’s fourth season.
Black Lightning features Anissa Pierce, a black lesbian medical student, teacher and – as it turns out – superhero by the name of Thunder.
Nafessa Williams plays Anissa Pierce aka Thunder (PinkNews)
If you’ve been watching Legends of Tomorrow, you will have also cheered at Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe kissing earlier this year to make their romance canon.
Marvel has also included LGBT representation, though not explicitly on the big screen.
Runaways features a lesbian superhero in the shape of Karolina Dean, a main character who slowly realises her sexuality while also figuring out her powers.
Karolina with friend (YouTube/Hulu)
America Chavez, a queer Latina teenager with lesbian parents, got her own comic book last year.
And earlier this year, openly gay superhero Miguel Santos, also known as Living Lightning, joined the Avengers in another Marvel comic book series.
