Lil Nas X is an artist known for the chart-topping single known as Old Town Road which became a hit during the year 2019. While said hit was still atop the charts, he made the choice to publicly come out as gay via the song C7osure at the end of June which is known to the LGBT as Pride Month which garnered mixed (mostly positive) reactions from the media. Starting with the song “Holiday” Lil Nas X began singing/rapping more queer-inclusive lyrics in his music which led to his next chart-topping hits Montero (Call Me By Your Name) & Industry Baby (featuring Jack Harlow). The former is known to be very controversial and appalling to many conservative figures due to the religious subtext in the video which Nas X claimed was intentional to fire back at trolls and religious people as a whole that preaches that gays will burn in hell; the latter Industry Baby is no exception either as it’s video shows a scene with Nas X and his backup dancers naked in a shower scene. Throughout all of 2021, Nas X has begun to dominate in both his legal name Montero (which both his song and album are named after) and his overall character. Although music is where he is present most, it is not his only strong suit. Nas X has proven to be very capable in other fields such as fashion for example and is known for quite appealing outfits as of late. His social media presence is also equally under his control, and he shows himself off as a bit of a troll but also a caring figure to his own fans (and queer POC in general). One considerable feat Nas X hasn’t reigned in yet would be movies and television. He claims the reason for this is that he wants to make a proper breakthrough with his music career first before focusing his efforts on acting because he can only put so much energy into one career choice at a time. As such he notably turned down a role to be on the HBO drama series Euphoria for this reason. However, I for one do believe he should play Aqualad’s character in a potential DC film.
Aqualad is a popular DC character that originated from the DC show Young Justice. His real name is Kaldur’ahm also known as Kaldur. He is the bastard son of the notorious Black Manta (who is also an enemy of Aqualad’s King and Mentor) though he was raised by his former minion and namesake Calvin Durahm. In the show Aqualad functions originally as Aquaman’s sidekick but eventually became leader of the Justice League’s covert operations team expressing great leadership and patience when dealing with them. However, season 2 shows Aqualad betraying the team when in actuality he was undercover the whole time as Black Manta’s lieutenant in order to infiltrate The Light and its partnership with the Reach before his cover was finally blown, after the fact, Aqualad left the team and joined the Justice League eventually becoming its leader and taking on the mantle of Aquaman once his mentor step down to focus on his duties in Atlantis. Among Kaldur’ahm’s side stories also shows a glimpse of his love life. Originally he fell for a female Atlantian girl named Tula having known her since they were very young. However, due to Aqualad dropping out of school to focus on his duties as hero and leader he was not around in Atlantis much later resulting in her blossoming a relationship with Garth who was Kaldur’s best friend to Aqualad’s despair. Tula later lost her life fighting against Tiamat to Kaldur’s horror. Years after the fact, however, Kaldur would eventually be revealed to be polysexual when he met and pursued a relationship with Wyynde, a former purist. Aqualad’s queerness has not only been displayed in the show but also in other comic books as well starting with DC Rebirth where he is portrayed as openly gay.
I feel that Lil Nas X should play Aqualad on account of how popular the characters are as well as the fact that they are queer people of color. Although many doubt Nas X’s acting ability on account that such is rare even for a popular musician. I for one think it would be nice if the character is explored on the big screen with a familiar, queer face on it along with a love interest of course. It would be great for representation among both black and queer culture as a whole seeing as there are rarely gay black superheroes in films for many reasons the first of whom is obviously censorship. It also (if applicable) could help bring the DC Extended Universe into a much bigger light (or at the very least as popular as Marvel). While it still remains both Lil Nas X and DC’s choice on who gets to play the character and whether or not he would want to play it, I still think he’s essential given how he keeps breaking barriers with his willingness to perform and write in the way he sees fit whether people have a problem with it or not. Plus he may make the film even more popular with his performance. Every time we think Nas X has reached his peak, he comes out with something even more creative (and borderline jaw-dropping). It’s a thought.
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