Amandla Stenberg says ‘f**k yes’ to playing a gay superhero
Stenberg came out as gay last month (Paras Griffin/Getty)
Amandla Stenberg has welcomed the idea of a queer superhero—and they want to play the part.
The 19-year-old actor, who made their name in The Hunger Games series and uses gender-neutral they/them pronouns, hit the headlines last month when they came out as a lesbian.
Stenberg, who previously came out as bisexual in 2016, told lesbian pop singer King Princess, also known as Mikaela Straus: “Yep I’m gay.”
Stenberg has been outspoken on social issues for years (Mike Windle/Getty)
And it looks like they can’t wait to break some more barriers on the big screen.
The star was asked by the Press Association whether they thought it was time for an LGBT+ superhero, and could not have been clearer with their answer.
“F**k yes,” they said. “Yes please, I would like that.
Regina King and Amandla Stenberg on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con (Araya Diaz/Getty)
“It would be an honour to play that, it would be fantastic.”
Stenberg, who stars in upcoming films The Darkest Minds and The Hate U Give, also revealed her childhood crushes after coming out last month.
She recalled: “Mila Kunis was probably my first lesbian crush, besides that silver-haired hoe Mirage from The Incredibles or Christina Vidal’s punk ass in Freaky Friday.”
Stenberg is in two much-anticipated films in the next few months (Earl Gibson III/Getty)
Stenberg wouldn’t be the first LGBT+ superhero to star in a film, with a new DC film set to feature super-powered lesbian detective Renee Montoya – the company’s first foray into putting queer heroes on the silver screen.
That news followed the revelation that a show about DC superhero Batwoman is in the works at The CW and intends to stay true to the comics, which feature a lesbian Batwoman who gets engaged to police detective Maggie Sawyer.
DC characters have led the way in LGBT+ representation, though up until now, it has been exclusively limited to TV shows.
In 2016, Supergirl‘s Alex Danvers came out as gay in a widely praised storyline which eventually saw her get together with police detective Maggie Sawyer.
Supergirl’s one-time lesbian couple, Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer (The CW)
Supergirl is also set to introduce its first ever transgender character, a superhero called Nia Nal, later this year when it returns for the show’s fourth season.
Black Lightning features Anissa Pierce, a black lesbian medical student, teacher and – as it turns out – superhero by the name of Thunder.
Nafessa Williams plays Anissa Pierce aka Thunder (PinkNews)
If you’ve been watching Legends of Tomorrow, you will have also cheered at Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe kissing earlier this year to make their romance canon.
Marvel has also included LGBT+ representation, though not explicitly on the big screen.
Runaways features a lesbian superhero in the shape of Karolina Dean, a main character who slowly realises her sexuality while also figuring out her powers.
Karolina with friend (YouTube/Hulu)
America Chavez, a queer Latina teenager with lesbian parents, got her own comic book last year.
And earlier this year, openly gay superhero Miguel Santos, also known as Living Lightning, joined the Avengers in another Marvel comic book series.
