Just like his father before him, Jon Kent has fallen for a reporter 💙 Learn more about the story to come in SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL #5: https://t.co/bUQAsos68o #DCPride pic.twitter.com/wfQPc3CEVD
— Superman (@DCSuperman) October 11, 2021
The announcement was made on National Coming Out Day, a day members of the LGBTQ community celebrate making their sexual orientation known.
The story, which will appear in SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL #5, will follow Jon Kent’s journey of becoming mentally and physically burnt out as a superhero. Reporter and romantic interest Jay Nakamura will be there to care for the weary superhero.
One of the issue’s writers said in a statement, “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.”
DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher Jim Lee said, “We couldn’t be prouder to tell this important story. We talk a lot about the power of the DC Multiverse in our storytelling, and this is another incredible example. We can have Jon Kent exploring his identity in the comics, as well as Jon Kent learning the secrets of his family on TV on Superman & Lois. They coexist in their own worlds and times, and our fans get to enjoy both simultaneously.”
Jon Kent was introduced in July 2015 in the Convergence: Superman #2.
Earlier this year, Marvel Comics introduced its first gay Captain America. That version of the character was the first LGBTQ hero to appear in the Marvel franchise’s 80-year history.
Former Superman Dean Cain Reacts
Hollywood actor and Christian Dean Cain played Superman in the hit television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. A day after DC Comics’ announcement, Cain appeared on “Fox & Friends,” where he described the decision to portray Superman as bisexual as “bandwagoning.”
“I don’t think it’s bold or brave or some crazy new direction,” the God’s Not Dead actor said. “If they had done this 20 years ago, perhaps that would be bold or brave. But brave would be having him fight for the rights of gay people in Iran where they’ll throw you off a building for the offense of being gay.”
Cain offered suggestions as to what the Man of Steel should be focusing on, saying, “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 work and live, and boys not to be raped by men under the new warm and fuzzy Taliban.”
The former Superman continued, “There’s real evil in this world today, real corruption and government overreach…It’d be great to tackle those issues. I’d like to see the character doing that.”
Earlier this year, Cain told Christian Post, “I am certainly a person of faith. I’m Christian, my son went to a Christian high school, and he was raised Christian. We’ve discussed religion ad nauseam, and back and forth.”
“I like making movies of faith and discussing faith and showing faith in a positive light,” Cain said. “I feel like there’s been a real big-time attack on Christianity and morality in a sense recently, and I don’t agree with it.”
