Tag Archives: Renee Montoya

Gotham Gets Rid of Gay Detective Montoya, Barbara to Get Bisexual Love Triangle in S2

One well documented problem with the comic book universe is its glaring lack of respect for its female, non-white and non-heterosexual and non-cisgendered characters.

Fans of The Avengers have been begging Marvel for a solo Black Widow movie for years, while DC Comics fans have become increasingly frustrated with offensive plot lines in its comics.

In The New 52 series of comics, DC Comics came under fire when the publisher wouldn’t allow Batwoman to get married to her partner, Maggie Sawyer, explaining that DC heroes have to put their relationships aside in order to do what they do (Superman and Wonder Woman were also dating at the time, it has been noted).

The publisher then followed this up with a controversial storyline in which vampiric villain Nocturna hypnotises and seduces Batwoman – an event that Batwoman then has nightmares about – with many fans calling the storyline out as a rape plot.

As unfortunate as those instances are (Batwoman’s run of comics was soon ditched rather quickly), many had hoped better for Gotham, a show that premiered last year and aimed to be an ‘origins’ story of sorts for Batman and co.

One huge draw for queer viewers was that it starred Renee Montoya, a lesbian of colour, who was caught up in a love triangle with (the then-fiancée of Jim Gordon) Barbara Kean and fans were keen to see them get together.

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And though they did reunite, the breakup was messy and Montoya was criminally underused on the show afterwards, leaving many queer viewers disappointed.

It comes as little surprise then that neither Montoya or her police partner Crispus Allen will be returning for Gotham season two.

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Gotham‘s executive producer John Stephens tells After Ellen that

… the show began as a police-centric show with a lot of cops, and as Season 1 evolved and definitely as Season 2 began to take shape, it became more of a Gotham supervillain-centric show”.

That will be hard to hear for many fans, but Stephens does say that the characters do still exist in the world of Gotham.

Even though they’re not series regulars anymore, if we need to, we can go back and see them again”.

As for what this means for Barbara’s love life going forward, her bisexuality isn’t suddenly being glossed over as Gotham season two will put her in the middle of a bisexual love triangle with the season’s two big villains, one of whom is a man and the other is a woman.

The love triangle will play out over 10 episodes, starting with the season premiere and although Stephens didn’t provide many details, some are speculating that Barbara’s female love interest will be Tigress, played by Jessica Lucas.

 

Batman’s Lesbian Detective Renee Montoya Set to Shine in New Comic-inspired TV series, Gotham

Great news – Fox’s new series, Gotham, will keep lesbian detective Renee Montoya from Batman comics.

The new series is set in the Batman universe. The series, which focuses on James Gordon in his days as a rookie with the Gotham City Police Department, will feature lesbian detective Renee Montoya, who came out in the comics in 2003.

“Gotham is beautiful, dark, dangerous, and romantic. It’s the kind of cityscape you should look at and believe anything can happen, and that means everybody should exist there.”

Dannon Cannon, co-executive producer

Victoria Cartagena will portray Detective Montoya is more than aware of the impact her character could have:

“If watching me means that I can help someone else feel included, then that makes me very happy.” 

Victoria Cartagena

Debuting in Batman No. 475, Detective Montoya became a favorite among LGBT comic readers when she was outed as lesbian in the 2003 comic book series ‘Gotham Central’.

Her appearance in the TV series Gotham will mark not only the first time a lesbian character has appeared in a live-action adaptation of Batman’s world but also the first time a lesbian of color will be a recurring character on any prime-time superhero series.

The series also plays host to a number of other strong female characters – Sarah Essen played by Zabryna Guevara, is the captain of the GCPD Homicide Squad and Gordon’s boss. Then there is new mob boss Fish Mooney played by Jada Pinkett Smith – a cunning and sadistic villain who is more than a match for the show’s heroes.

“It’s a new day when we can have a show on television that is not afraid to explore various sexual orientations of women,” says Pinkett Smith. “Let us hope that this is a path toward even more change in regard to the perceptions of female sexuality, as well as our bodies in relation to sex.”

Jada Pinkett Smith