Dean Cain criticises Superman coming out as bisexual: They're bandwagoning

Former Superman actor Dean Cain has slammed DC Comics for portraying the current Superman as bisexual, saying the company is wrongly calling going on a bandwagon a bold new direction.DC Comics announced on Monday on National Coming Out Day that Jon Kent, son of the original Superman Clark Kent and reporter Lois Lane, will kiss a male journalist friend Jay Nakamura.The kiss takes place on issue five of the comic book series, Superman Son of Kal-El, which becomes available on November 9.

Former Superman actor Dean Cain has slammed DC Comics for portraying the current Superman as bisexual, saying the company is wrongly calling going on a bandwagon a ''bold new direction''.

DC Comics announced on Monday on National Coming Out Day that Jon Kent, son of the original Superman Clark Kent and reporter Lois Lane, will kiss a male journalist friend Jay Nakamura.

The kiss takes place on issue five of the comic book series, ''Superman: Son of Kal-El,'' which becomes available on November 9. The publisher describes the 17-year-old new Superman as bisexual.

''They said it's a bold new direction, I say they're bandwagoning. Robin just came out as bi -- who's really shocked about that one? The new Captain America is gay. My daughter in (The CW series) Supergirl, where I played the father, was gay. ''So 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,'' Cain told Fox & Friends on Tuesday.

Cain played Clark Kent/Superman on ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' for four seasons starting in 1993 DC's latest Robin/ Tim Drake also came out as bisexual in ''Batman: Urban Legends'' recently. Drake has also been added to HBO Max's live-action ''Titans'' series, with actor Jay Lycurgo playing the character in the show's third season, premiering on August 12.

Cain also said it could have been a brave move if DC Comics had the popular comic book character fight for ''the rights of gay people in Iran where they'll throw you off a building for the offense of being gay''.

''They're talking about having him fight climate change and the deportation of refugees, and he's dating a hacktivist -- whatever a hactivist is. 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 -- that would be brave. There's real evil in this world today, real corruption and government overreach, plenty of things to fight against. Human trafficking -- real and actual slavery going on... It'd be great to tackle those issues,'' the 55-year-old actor further said.

Jordan Elsass, who plays Jon Kent on The CW's ''Superman & Lois'', said his character's version exists on the planet Earth which is ''different'' to the one in the updated comic.

''This is a different version of Jon Kent. And you have to remember there are other differences as well. Jon Kent, in this universe, as far as we know, doesn't have powers yet. ''So there's always that possibility, for sure, especially growing up, those formative years, there are things to explore. But I don't necessarily know if that is going to be one of those things. Jon Kent, in this universe, at least for now, has been established as straight,'' Elsass told Decider.

On the other hand, comic book writer Tom Taylor said he is overjoyed with the reaction to his portrayal of a new Superman as bisexual.

''People (are) contacting me from everywhere just saying they saw the headline and they burst into tears. They never imagined that Superman could represent them,'' Taylor told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio in his hometown Melbourne, Australia.

''I've also had messages from older queer people who said how much they wish they had this when they were younger and how grateful they are that this generation has this sort of representation,'' he added Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)