Let me get a few points in on this little topic, on which has been said way too much because of the self-image problems of grown ass men:
In the comics Hooded Justice was gay.
You can play the
'BUT IT WAS ONLY IMPLIED!' card, but the comic also only
implied that The Comedian killed JFK, and people take that as fact with no issue. Because the comic is full of implications clearly pointing towards truths. That's how writing generally works, you don't need to spell everything out if you create a pattern. And talking about pattern:
This entire episode uses the concept of the costumed hero as a metaphor for homosexuality.
- We are told three times about Will's affection for 'strong heroes'. First at the police inauguration with him proudly stating he joined the force because of the lieutenant, the second time when he asks the news vendor about the Superman comic, and the third time when he talks about the Bass Reeves movie he loved as a child. All these scenes subtly set up his taste in men.
- The scene between Nelson and Will with June at the table clearly show her catching the vibes between the two, and the affectionate touch the two men share exchanging the card. The entire conversation is not just a proposal from Captain Metropolis to Hooded Justice to join the Minutemen, but also a sexual proposal from Nelson to Will. June doesn't like it from the start, but her resistance becomes much stronger as she gradually sees the sexual tension between the two. The scene ends with a close-up of Will, looking visibly conflicted with himself, before being shaken up by June saying 'No!'.
- It then cuts to the sex scene, which you could argue could also be handled by showing them kiss or post-sex, but I think Lindelof felt it important to show the sex to show how long the sexual repression had built up in Will. It's not a romantic relationship, it's a sexual one born from the sexual repression (much like Hooded Justice was born from his repressed anger).
- There's the scene where June asks Will to tell her about the first time he saw her, and instead of it being a romantic story, it's him finding her as a baby after the Tulsa massacre. Rather than father/daughter or brother/sister relationship, they become romantically linked. The implication formed here in my opinion is that Will, in order to hide and repress his homosexuality, started a relationship with literally the first girl in his life.
(Side-note: the imagery June as a baby wrapped in an American flag being saved from the Tulsa massacre by Will is a parralel of Superman being saved from his exploding planet as a baby wrapped in the flag of his family crest)
- The hood, but more importantly the make-up, becomes an ironic parralel for Will's repressed anger homosexuality. Putting on the hood and make-up allows Will to express himself freely (fight crime which he cannot actually do in his actual day job as a policeman). Let me rephrase that again, Will is a man who dresses up and puts on make-up in order to be able to freely express himself. Get the picture?
- When he catches his son putting on make-up, the parralel is complete. Will does not want his son to become a homosexual like him, causing the anger of June who can no longer live with Will's denial of himself. The words they exchange in the argument on surface level sound like they are about his anger-fueled vigilantism, but by this point it should be clear that the vigilantism is about repressed homosexuality and everything June says is just as easily applied to his repressed homosexuality.
It's all quite incredible actually if you're not too busy being caught up in toxic masculinity.
