After seemingly endless speculation, we can finally put those rumors to rest about the Man of Steel’s sexuality (yeah, right): Superman is definitely not gay, director Bryan Singer assures us.
In fact, he “is probably the most heterosexual character in any movie I’ve ever made,” Singer tells Reuters. “I don’t think he’s ever been gay.”
DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz admits he was confounded by all the tongue-wagging, too: “We were all scratching our heads. He’s not a gay character.”
What’s behind all the buzz?
Of course, most of the buzz has been about the movie itself. Access Hollywood wonders what’s fueling anticipation for the June 28 release:
Access thinks it’s the whole, ahem, package. The superpowers, the rascally villains … oh, and the heart-wrenching pain which stems from being a vulnerable loner who can make time fly backwards but can’t seem to make it work with the ladies …
Access’ “movie guru” Scott Mantz calls Superman Returns “the most hyped movie since Star Wars: Episode III.”
Superman documentary debuts tonight
Adding to the hype, A&E debuts the documentary, Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman, at 8 tonight.
“A&E has opportunistically taken what would otherwise be a swell DVD extra and turned it into an entertaining if almost exhaustively comprehensive special, neatly latching onto the capetails of the upcoming Superman Returns,” Variety writes.
The documentary sifts through nearly 70 years of Superman’s history, from the character’s creation to radio to TV to movies.
“The one glaring oversight, actually,” Variety notes, “involves a failure to acknowledge the thorny matter of how the creators were shortchanged on profits from their creation, spurring several rounds of litigation.”
Other articles of note:
Spotlight on celebrities at Superman Celebration
Iowan works on Look, Up in the Sky!
June 12th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
[...] Is it just me or is this story where they assure us that Superman isn’t gay, just sad. Why does it matter that much? They obviously think if they dont’ squash this rumor now then they’ll lose money on the movie. Otherwise why say anything at all. Personally I would like to see someone re-write Superman and switch the characters of Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane and see how much that changes the core of who Superman is and what the story is all about. I would think not much would change. He would still stand for Truth, Justice, and the American Way (he still stands for that right?). He would still be bumbling old Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet. He would still have to rescue both Jimmy and Lois almost every issue. The only difference is he would be pining for Jimmy instead of Lois. Does that actually change that much? What do you think? Trackback · [...]
June 12th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Thank you, Paul and Bryan!
June 12th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Of course Superman is not gay.
The metatext to the movie is all about the gay, however.
June 12th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
And if he were gay, would it really matter?
Not that he’s gay. He’s totally Jewish, though.
June 12th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
[...] Blog@Newsarama » Kryptonite Bites: He’s not gay, so stop asking [...]
June 18th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
[...] We started the week with Bryan Singer’s final word on Superman’s sexuality, which had been receiving a lot of media attention and discussion over the past few weeks. No, he isn’t gay. But is he Jesus? [...]
June 18th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
If Superman WERE gay, he would still be fighting for Truth and Justice. But in the eyes of the Republican Party, he’d be an ENEMY of “the American Way”. Can you imagine it? Everytime he’d defeat a supervillian or prevent a disaster, FOX NEWS would try and “spin it” to make him look bad.( Kinda like they way J. Jonah Jameson used to blame everything on Spiderman).There would be a big chunk of the population that would actively HATE Superman, the Alien Sodomite who,s corrupting our children.The mainstream media would be obliged to present “both sides” when covering his adventures. And Luthor would have the Religous Right in his pocket…