Biggins: Bisexual Superman is 'pandering to the woke system'
Christopher Biggins has said Superman coming out as bisexual is not necessary but simply "pandering to the woke system".
The 72-year-old pantomime veteran and TV star said DC Comics should be introducing new and original superheroes who are LGBTQ instead of changing characters who already exist.
Biggins told Good Morning Britain: "Why do we have it? Why do we need it?.
"If you want to do something like this, do something original, don’t take characters that already exist and make them into something they’re not."
He cited Johannes Radebe and John Whaite performing as an all-male couple on Strictly Come Dancing as "fantastic", and the 'principal boy' character in pantomime now being portrayed by men instead of women to give boys a "character to get into".
Biggins - who is openly gay and married to a man - added: "I think it's important that we continue to do that and not pander to the woke system."
He went on: "I do find it absolutely bizarre that this is what people want nowadays. Why can’t we stick to what we’ve had and been given? Why don’t they do some new characters, why don’t they create something new, something different, then go to a character we all know, we all love and we all know as this?"
To celebrate National Coming Out Day on 11 October, DC Comics announced that in an upcoming issue Jonathan Kent, the 17-year-old son of original Superman Clark Kent and Lois Lane, will embark on a same-sex romance with friend Jay Nakamura.
Biggins - who was removed from the Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 for referring to AIDS as "a bisexual disease" - is in accord with Superman actor Dean Cain.
The star of 90s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman said there is nothing "bold or brave" about making the superhero bisexual.
Cain, 55, told Fox & Friends: "They said it's a bold new direction, I say they're bandwagoning.
"Robin just came out as bi - who's really shocked about that one? The new Captain America is gay. My daughter in Supergirl, where I played the father, was gay. So I don't think it's bold or brave or some crazy new direction. If they had done this 20 years ago, perhaps that would be bold or brave.
"Brave would be having him fighting for the rights of gay people in Iran where they'll throw you off a building for the offence of being gay. They're talking about having him fight climate change and the deportation of refugees and he's dating a hacktivist - whatever a hactivist is."
Jon Kent, aka Superman will be coming out as bisexual in the November 9 issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El. Since the series was released in July, Jon has fought wildfires caused by climate change, stopped a school shooting and protested the deportation of refugees in Metropolis.
