A gay superhero drama is in development
at premium cable channel Showtime, reports Variety.
The project is being headed by
comicbook icon Stan Lee and based on the 2007 Perry Moore novel Hero.
Lee is reported to have signed on as
executive producer, while openly gay Moore is busy writing the
script.
In
Moore's Lambda-winning Hero,
teenager Thom Creed faces numerous social obstacles as his
superpowers begin to mature. Thom's father retired from crime
fighting in disgrace and his mother abandoned the family.
A high school
basketball star, Thom fears his gay revelation would shame his father
further and end his own popularity. Deciding to keep both his
superpowers and sexual preference secret, he runs away from home.
But true to its
comicbook roots, Thom soon finds himself confronting his sexual
demons (Internet porn saves the day!) and rescuing the world from
villains.
Moore has said that
Hero was a response to numerous negative portrayals of gays
and lesbians in the comicbook genre, including the murder of gay
superhero Northstar at the hands of Wolverine in the Marvel Comic
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #2.
Stan Lee is also
developing several feature-length movies for Paramount, including
Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and a sequel
to last summer's Iron Man, which suited up
Robert Downey Jr. in the iron machine.
Gay Entertainment
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