While Marvel Studios has been doubling down a lot lately on their commitment to bringing an openly LGBT superhero into the MCU, it sounds like the DCEU just might beat them to the punch with next year’s Birds of Prey.
According to a source close to We Got This Covered, Rosie Perez’s character Renee Montoya has been written as openly gay. As well as referencing her sexuality in the dialogue, it’s said that the heroine will be seen kissing another woman on screen, and though we’ve yet to receive any official confirmation on the matter, this development would certainly fall in line with Renee’s portrayal in the comics.
If what we’ve heard is true, then 2020 could end up being a pretty big year for LGBT representation in superhero cinema. On the Marvel end of things, for instance, it’s been heavily rumored lately that The Eternals will feature the MCU’s first gay lead. And while the production house seems reluctant to confirm or deny the hearsay, it certainly looks like a matter of when rather than if an LGBT character will be brought into the Marvel saga.
In any case, though the ongoing shoot for Birds of Prey has yielded a generous amount of set material, images of Renee have so far been few and far between. Still, it’s said that principal photography won’t be wrapping until mid-April, so keep watching this space.
Either way, we’ll be seeing Perez’s character and her new set of friends in action when Birds of Prey hits theaters on February 7th, 2020. And in the meantime, we’ll find out if the DCEU can sustain the box office momentum built up by Aquaman when Shazam! comes out on April 5th.