First gay supervillain coming to DC Universe
The first gay supervillain? Black Mask. (DC Comics)
The DC Extended Universe is set to make LGBT+ film history by introducing a prominent gay supervillain to a major superhero movie.
Birds of Prey, which is inspired by a DC Comics series of the same name, will feature Ewan McGregor as supervillain Black Mask.
Multiple sources have told We Got This Covered, a Rotten Tomatoes-accredited entertainment site, that Black Mask will be portrayed as homosexual and the sexual tension between him and fellow villain Victor Zsasz will make it clear that he is gay.
But apparently Black Mask will never explicitly state his sexuality.
The gay supervillain is a Gotham City crime lord. Other characters include Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell).
Birds of Prey will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and will premiere in the US on 7 February 2020.
Marvel’s gay superhero character was ‘insulting’
In May 2019, Avengers: Endgame directors said they were introducing a new gay superhero character.
The blink-and-you’ll miss it moment was heralded as the first time an openly gay character had appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though some took offence to the somewhat tokenistic attempt at representation.
Asked by EW Morning Live to clarify whether the character was indeed the first LGBT+ person in the MCU, Joe Russo gave an intriguing response.
“Yes, openly gay,” he said. “There’ve been insinuations about other characters’ sexuality, but this is the first openly gay character.”
The character—who was simply credited as Grieving Man and was played by the film’s co-director Russo—caused controversy among some LGBT+ fans who criticised the studio for the quick, throwaway moment.
The character appears in a grief support group and mentions to Chris Evans’ character Steve Rogers that he is dating a man.
Marvel boss Kevin Feige addressed the backlash, saying there will be “much more prominent LGBT heroes in the future.”
