Wonder Woman has shown a new path for the DCEU (DC Extended Universe, referring to the movies). And the DC CW shows have been gaining many fans. But whereas the TV shows have been doing an increasingly good job with representation, the movies could still use a push. So in honor of Pride Month, here are some LGBT heroes we’d like to see appear in the DCEU.
CATMAN
Introduced in 1963, Thomas Blake was a millionaire who became famous for his skills as a tracker and hunter who trapped jungle cats. Growing bored, he sought new challenges by turning to crime and became the Catman (originally spelled as “Cat-Man” for decades). He developed methods and weapons similar to those of Batman. He also acquired a mystical cape that apparently healed mortal wounds (and which he claimed gave him 9 lives).
In the 1990s, Blake was portrayed as an arrogant misogynist, one who knew he was seen largely as a loser and resented it. In the 21st century, he was portrayed as an out-of-shape joke. Then in 2005, writer Gail Simone and artist Dale Eaglesham turned him into an Olympic-level athlete and capable anti-hero, sexy and with a moral code, who believed committing crimes and working with killers was sometimes necessary. In the New 52 reality, Gail Simone delivered on a promise to fans and confirmed that Thomas Blake identifies as bisexual. He’s another character it would be fun to see in the universe of Arrow and The Flash. Or maybe as part of his team, the Secret Six.
ICE MAIDEN
Sigrid Nansen was engineered to be a superhero for Norway and joined the international team known as the Global Guardians. She later left the team and was replaced by Icemaiden II, who later took on the name Ice and had more formidable abilities. Ice joined the Justice League but later died in battle. Following this, Sigrid came out of retirement and joined the League herself. During her time there, a male teammate asked her out and she told him thanks but no, since “I like girls.”
She later added that while she had a preference for women, she had indeed had some romances with males and had fallen in love one before. When asked if this meant she were bisexual, she said that she didn’t feel like having a label. She loved whom she loved.
Sir Ystin, THE SHINING KNIGHT
In the 1940s, comics showed a character called the Shining Knight. He was Sir Justin, a 6th century knight of Camelot who awoke in the modern day. In Grant Morrison’s 2005 mega-series 7 Soldiers, he and artist Simone Bianchi introduced a new Shining Knight named Sir Ystin (an alternate version of the name Justin), who came from a version of Camelot that existed 8,000 BCE (Morrison’s idea was that Camelot recurs throughout human history in different forms). It’s later revealed in 7 Soldiers that Ystin was born Ystina. It was not clear in the story if Ystin was transgender, genderfluid, intersex, or pretending to be male in order to be accepted as a knight.
In the New 52 reality, Sir Ystin appeared in the pages of Demon Knights. In that series, which takes place in Medieval times, the other characters are befuddled by Sir Ystin identifying as male when the character seemed to be a female. Later, the Shining Knight explains that while he largely identified as male, he considers to be both genders. When asked what exactly this meant, writer Paul Cornell said, “I think that’s down to what each individual reader wants from that exchange or most identifies with. Why shut down any of the possibilities?”
BATWOMAN
The original Batwoman was Kathy Kane (now often called by her pre-marriage name Kathy Webb). She was introduced in 1956 specifically to be a romantic interest for Batman who would dispell rumors and concerns that the Gotham City hero was secretly gay. 50 years later, Greg Rucka introduced a new version of Batwoman named Kate Kane who had left Westpoint Academy because she’d had to admit she was gay during the days of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
After feeling directionless for a while, Kate was inspired to be a protector for Gotham similar to Batman. With the aid of her father, she put together body armor and weapons and became a new hero. She’s been a great character and DC’s highest profile gay character. Her romances have included Renee Montoya (a former GCPD detective who later became the heroic Question) and cop Maggie Sawyer, who was the first gay character to be introduced in Superman comics during the 1980s.
We’ve had nine theatrically released Batman films so far (counting the animated Mask of the Phantasm). Batgirl was in one. Isn’t a Batwoman appearance overdue?