Echo Kellum was recently cast for the role of Mr. Terrific for this upcoming season of Arrow. And guess what, he is going to be a gay character. That’s an interesting turn. At San Diego Comic it was announced by executive producer Greg Berlanti that Mr. Terrific was going to be introduced this coming season on Arrow and that he would be gay. Now, in Entertainment Weekly, it was announced that Echo Kellum will be taking on the role of Curtis Holt aka Mr. Terrific.
Being that Mr. Terrific was a straight character in DC Comics and became a superhero because of the death of his wife child, it is more than likely, his superhero origin in the tv show is going to be altered. A lot. As Entertainment Weekly described, Holt is “a technological savant and inventor,” an employee at Palmer Technologies under Felicity Smoak’s (Emily Bett Rickards) supervision.
I support this and think that it is incredibly cool that we are not only getting a mainstream character on an established DC show that has a cohesive continuity, but also that we are getting a an actual gay character that is not playing it safe by saying that he is ‘bi’ or questioning. If you are not aware of this, the character of the Pied Piper, Hartley Rathaway, has been established in the Flash/Arrow TV Universe and is also an openly gay character.
Not to mention that Barry Allen’s boss is Police Captain David Singh, and is also an openly gay character. Granted though, he barely plays a supporting character in the show.
Unfortunately, if you listen closely, you can already hear future fanboys starting to complain and throw a tantrum about Mr. Terrific. I personally have avoided the topic on forums, because I know there are going to be some haters out there. What do you think? Is this a good move or is it a bad idea to make an established heterosexual character gay for the means of diversity?
5 thoughts on “Mr Terrific is set to Debut on Arrow this Season and he’s going to be Gay!”
Well at least he won’t in a meaningless love triangle with Oliver and Felicity.
Or will he?! That would be such an interesting twist to see him in a male/female triangle. They won’t do that, but still, it’d make interesting porn parody material
This is pandering – plain and simple. It has nothing to do with inclusion, diversity or any of the current trendy words being thrown about to sell a product. It has to do with exactly what’s going on in this thread – exciting gay (and black) fans and making them think that they matter…when really, the only time they matter is when a show (or network) needs to boost ratings.
If gay black (or any other minority) characters mattered, they would be – wait for it – HEADLINERS – of a show and not just throw-away support cast.
Gay people say “at least we’re present” like that’s enough. You know why it’s not enough? Because, once again, we’re settling for second best or…to put it in historical context…the back of the bus.
Why, when someone disagrees with something are they always referred to as a “hater”? I thought we were allowed our own opinions, even when they weren’t the most popular.
Arrow’s always been a pretty gay show. I mean, pretty much every male actor on the show has posed shirtless for the promo art. What bugs me about this, is the idea of token gay characters. I don’t mind them putting gay characters in comics and TV shows if they’re actually fully fleshed out, well developed interesting characters, that just happen to be gay. But this just feels like they’re adding making characters gay just to say they have gay characters. Personally, I don’t see the point. I’m not mad, really, because I don’t know about Mr. Terrific anyway, but I don’t really see the point.
Well at least he won’t in a meaningless love triangle with Oliver and Felicity.
Or will he?! That would be such an interesting twist to see him in a male/female triangle. They won’t do that, but still, it’d make interesting porn parody material
This is pandering – plain and simple. It has nothing to do with inclusion, diversity or any of the current trendy words being thrown about to sell a product. It has to do with exactly what’s going on in this thread – exciting gay (and black) fans and making them think that they matter…when really, the only time they matter is when a show (or network) needs to boost ratings.
If gay black (or any other minority) characters mattered, they would be – wait for it – HEADLINERS – of a show and not just throw-away support cast.
Gay people say “at least we’re present” like that’s enough. You know why it’s not enough? Because, once again, we’re settling for second best or…to put it in historical context…the back of the bus.
Why, when someone disagrees with something are they always referred to as a “hater”? I thought we were allowed our own opinions, even when they weren’t the most popular.
Arrow’s always been a pretty gay show. I mean, pretty much every male actor on the show has posed shirtless for the promo art. What bugs me about this, is the idea of token gay characters. I don’t mind them putting gay characters in comics and TV shows if they’re actually fully fleshed out, well developed interesting characters, that just happen to be gay. But this just feels like they’re adding making characters gay just to say they have gay characters. Personally, I don’t see the point. I’m not mad, really, because I don’t know about Mr. Terrific anyway, but I don’t really see the point.