Ewan McGregor And Chris Messina Have Birds Of Prey Fans Upset

Conversations surrounding Zsasz and Sionis' romantic relationship — or, seemingly, the lack thereof — kicked off after fans of the original DC comics began to surmise that the two characters might get together in the Birds of Prey movie. Following that, McGregor and Messina teased Variety during the Birds of Prey Harlywood exhibit opening on Thursday, January 24, with Messina "[planting] a kiss on McGregor's cheek" before the interview started.

When asked directly about their characters' relationship, McGregor responded, "It's very complicated. Their relationship is very much based... there's a want and a need in there for sure." Messina agreed, saying, "There's like a real love of anarchy." 

As if to drive the point home, McGregor took things one step further, interrupting Messina to say that "more than likely, yes," Zsasz and Sionis will be revealed as being gay.

Many were seriously annoyed by this move. Twitter user @OrvilleLloyd wrote, "Can straight male actors please stop queerbaiting to try to trick gay audiences to see their films. If a character is gay it needs to be obvious to the audience. Tired of the queerbaiting. Please stop it." Another tweeted, "Is it overt? Is it written in the script? Is it textual? No? Then it's not representation."

One outspoken critic was openly gay comedian and actor Billy Eichner, who responded to Variety's tweet about the story with a simple eye roll emoji. He followed that with a concise yet clear statement: "Honestly just say they're straight. Please. Enough with this have it both ways nonsense. IMAGINE HOW TIRED WE ARE."

Eichner might not speak for every single fan, but he's absolutely right: the LGBTQ+ community is clearly tired of being strung along when it comes to representation in major blockbuster films, and the straight community truly can't understand how frustrating the quest for clear LGBTQ+ representation has proven to be throughout Hollywood. As the world learns more about the spectrum of sexuality and gender, the media we consume should reflect the reality in which we live.