Progressive step

Power Rangers movie features first openly gay film superhero
By Alex James Taylor | Film+TV | 21 March 2017
Above:

‘Power Rangers’ (2017) dir. Dean Israelite

Top image: ‘Power Rangers’ (2017) dir. Dean Israelite

Reports suggest that the new Power Rangers movie features the first openly gay superhero in film history.

Early reviews of the Dean Isrealite-directed film – starring HERO 17‘s Dacre Montgomery and HEROINE 6’s Naomi Scott – reveal a scene in which Yellow Ranger Trini (played by Becky G) experiences “girlfriend problems.”

Director Dean Israelite described the moment as “pivotal” to the film, which is released in the US on Thursday. “For Trini, really she’s questioning a lot about who she is,” Israelite tells The Hollywood Reporter. “She hasn’t fully figured it out yet. I think what’s great about that scene and what that scene propels for the rest of the movie is, ‘That’s OK.’ The movie is saying, ‘That’s OK,’ and all of the kids have to own who they are and find their tribe.”

This move marks a progressive step forward for superhero big screen adaptations. The first openly gay character from either DC or Marvel, X-Men’s Northstar, actually appeared in comic form back in 1992 and in 2012, the character wedded his longtime partner Kyle in Astonishing X-Men #51, after gay marriage became legal in New York State.


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