Category Archives: superman

Matt Bomer Says He Lost Out On A Massive Superhero Role After He Was Outed As Gay

Posted on by
Reply

Matt Bomer has claimed he lost out on the role of a lifetime after being outed as gay.

The US actor – who is known for films like Magic Mike and The Normal Heart, as well as the TV show Fellow Travelers – has said he was in the running for the lead role in DC’s scrapped film Superman: Flyby in the early 2000s.

“It looked like I was the director’s choice for the role,” Matt claimed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, revealing he went as far as signing “a three-picture deal at Warner Bros.” to play the iconic superhero.

However, the film ultimately became one of the several axed Superman films in the hiatus between 1987’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and 2006’s Superman Returns.

While Matt came out as gay publicly in 2012, he himself is unsure of the exact circumstances around how he was outed earlier in his career, though believes it contributed to him missing out on the role.

Asked whether he believes his sexual orientation affected that outcome, Matt shared: “Yeah, that’s my understanding.”

He continued: “That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponised against you. How, and why, and who, I don’t know.”

Matt even left his role playing Ben Reade on the CBS soap Guiding Light, which he starred in between 2002 and 2003, for the Superman audition process.

“I went in on a cattle call for Superman, [which] turned into a one-month audition experience where I was auditioning again and again and again,” he said.

Superman: Flyby was eventually scrapped, with Brandon Routh playing the Man Of Steel in 2006's Superman Returns
Superman: Flyby was eventually scrapped, with Brandon Routh playing the Man Of Steel in 2006’s Superman Returns

Warner Bros/Dc Comics/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Superman film in question was an early version of a new instalment in the franchise penned by The Force Awakens co-writer and director J.J. Abrams.

Paul Walker, Josh Hartnett and Brendan Fraser were just some of the stars reportedly considered for the new Superman role, before the movie was ultimately shelved.

Matt did eventually lend his voice to Superman in the 2013 animated direct-to-video film Superman: Unbound, along with another recent role voicing The Flash in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One.

Most recently, the American Horror Story star appeared opposite Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey in the 2023 miniseries Fellow Travelers, which follows two men who fall for each other during a volatile period in America’s history.

Share Button

Christopher Biggins’ Past Comments About Bisexuality Resurface After GMB Superman Debate

Posted on by
Reply

DC Comics/PA

Superman will come out as bisexual in a new comic book story

Twitter has been reminded of Christopher Biggins’ past comments about bisexual people, after the panto star was invited onto Wednesday’s edition of Good Morning Britain to discuss the news about Superman coming out as bisexual in a future comic.

Earlier this week, DC Comics confirmed that in an upcoming story, Superman – now the alter-ego of Clark Kent’s son, rather than the original superhero – would be seen having a romantic moment with a man.

On Wednesday morning, Biggins was invited to discuss the issue, where he voiced his disapproval, accusing the comic book creators of “pandering to the ‘woke system’”.

“If you want to do something like this, do something original,” he said. “Don’t take characters that already exist and make them into something that they’re not.”

Presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley then pointed out this story will take place within “the next generation” of Superman, with the latter pointing out: “It’s perfectly reasonable to think that the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane might well grow up to be bisexual. You say ‘why’, but why not?”

Doubling down, a slightly flustered Biggins responded: “Well… I mean… I just find it extraordinary. I do find it absolutely bizarre that this is what people want nowadays.

“Why can’t we stick to… in the future, why don’t they do some new characters? Why not create something new, something different? [Rather] than go to a character we all know and love and we all know as this, not that.”

After the clip was posted online, many spoke out against GMB for inviting Biggins to be part of the discussion, given he was removed from the Celebrity Big Brother house back in 2016 after making a series of remarks about bisexual people.

They also called out Biggins for not having done research on the story before speaking out about it on national television… 

During a discussion on sexuality during his time in the Big Brother house, Biggins received a warning for saying: “The worst type, though, is, I’m afraid to say, the bisexuals… what it is is people not wanting to admit they are gay.”

In a conversation later in the series, he also discussed HIV, claiming the virus was spread by bisexual people who had sex abroad, with infected people, before they “brought it back to their own families in America, and that’s how it became a worldwide disease”.

Biggins was eventually removed from the CBB house, following another comment he made about the Holocaust to housemate Katie Waissel, which Channel 5 chose not broadcast.

At the end of Wednesday’s GMB debate, podcast host Aamir Hassan outlined why he felt the Superman news was a “fantastic” development.

“For a lot of young people, they don’t have the privilege of coming out, and they’re in positions where they’re not able to come out and they’re not able to be themselves,” he explained. “And they look to media, they look to entertainment, they look to comic books, they look to these places for solace and to see themselves.

“And if even just one young person can see Superman’s son be bisexual and it helps them, I don’t see what the issue is. Representation and visibility don’t just change lives, they genuinely save lives.”

Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.

Share Button