Dean Cain criticizes DC Comics over new Superman’s coming out as bisexual

This past Monday, National Coming Out Day, DC Comics made waves by announcing that Jon Kent, the son of Clark Kent and the current Superman in the comics, was bisexual. It’ll be made official in the November 9 issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El.

“I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes and I’m very grateful DC and Warner Bros. share this idea,” writer Tom Taylor said in a press release, per Yahoo Entertainment. “Superman’s symbol has always stood for hope, for truth and for justice. Today, that symbol represents something more. Today, more people can see themselves in the most powerful superhero in comics.”

The move got a lot of plaudits online, but there are also some grumbling, including from actor Dean Cain, who played Superman alongside Teri Hatcher in the ’90s show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. “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 during an appearance on the talk show Fox & Friends. “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 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. Brave would be having him fighting for the rights of gay people in Iran where they’ll throw you off a building for the offense of being gay."

Since Jon Kent’s series debuted in July, he’s fought wildfires caused by climate change, stopped a school shooting and protested the deportation of refugees. Cain wants it to go further. “They’re talking about having him fight climate change and the deportation of refugees and he’s dating a hacktivist — whatever a hactivist is,” he said. “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.”

Dean Cain whines about Superman comics

Looking at this, I think Cain makes some salient points and some “old man yells at cloud”-style complaints. I agree that DC is introducing more queer characters now because it’s relatively safe to do so; it would have been brave of them to do something like this 20 years ago, but they didn’t have the will, or maybe didn’t even think about it.

On the other hand, it’s still good they’re having more representation, late or not; comics are enjoyed by a lot of kids, and if young queer people see themselves reflected in their favorite superheroes and draw confidence from that, all the better.

As for Cain’s complaints about how Superman should be tackling other issues, it smells like whataboutism to me; sure, it’d be nice if Superman fought for women’s rights under the Taliban, and maybe that’s a story they’ll explore. But having him fight against the effects of climate change is timely, as well; they can’t do everything at once.

And at the end of the day, even if DC did make the changes Cain wants, this is still just a comic book we’re talking about; it can raise awareness about some issues, which it’s doing, but it’s not going to change the world and probably isn’t worth getting too up in arms about either way. Cain seems to be accusing DC of being performative with its choices, and there may be some truth to that, but I don’t think his complaints come across as any more sincere.

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