The Matrix co-director Lilly Wachowski criticized DC Comics for parting ways with author Gretchen Felker-Martin, whose comic book was dropped by the publisher after Felker-Martin posted “thoughts and prayers you Nazi b—-,” in response to conservative activist Charlie Kirk being shot.
Felker-Martin also responded to Kirk’s death by writing, “Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie Kirk.” Felker-Martin, who is trans, previously wrote a 2022 novel, Manhunt, in which the Harry Potter author, who has made many anti-trans statements, is burned to death.
Following Felker-Martin statements about Kirk, DC immediately cancelled the run of her new comic series, a Batman spinoff called Red Hood.
DC said in a statement: “At DC Comics, we place the highest value on our creators and community and affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints. Posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct.”
Felker-Martin has not responded to MovieMaker’s requests for comment.
Wachowksi, who like Felker-Martin is trans, expressed support for the fired author and criticized DC for not backing Felker-Martin.
“DC comics planting their flag on the moral high ground on the side of a white nationalist, transphobe while dutifully carrying on his rotten work in the firing of Gretchen Felker-Martin. The characters of the DC universe would find this despicable,” Wachowski wrote on Bluesky.
DC cancelled Red Hook after one issue had been released, explaining in a statement to retailers: “DC Comics cancels existing orders for Red Hood #2 and Red Hood #3, and any orders for future issues of the series. DC Comics will credit retailers for all invoiced copies of Red Hood #1, inclusive of copies that may have already been sold.”
But Wachowski called on retailers to keep selling the first issue, stating “the cool comic shops will carry the #1 of Red Hood even though they were told to stop selling them. Support them too if you can!”
Wachowski also added a link to Felker-Martin’s Patreon “to help Gretchen and the lost revenue from losing her book.”
Lilly Wachowski has long objected to right wingers using memes from The Matrix. In 2020, when Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted “Take the red pill” and Ivanka Trump replied, “Taken!,” Wachowski succinctly responded, “F— both of you.”
Background on Lilly Wachowski, Gretchen Felker-Martin and Firings Over Charlie Kirk Comments
Police have arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson in Kirk’s shooting.
Most people from across the political spectrum have publicly denounced Kirk’s murder last week as he spoke at Utah Valley University. Former President Barack Obama, for example, quickly issued a statement saying that ” this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy.”
But some reactions to the shooting led to quick firings, including that of Felker-Martin. Another prominent dismissal was MSNBC’s firing of commentator Matthew Dowd, who opined soon after Kirk was shot that Kirk was “constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” He later accused MSNBC of giving in to a “right wing mob.”
Also last week,The Washington Post fired writer and editor Karen Attiah, who later wrote on Instagram, “My offense? Calling out America’s acceptance of hatred and political violence, gun deaths, especially when the violence is carried out by white men. For this, the Washington Post accused me of ‘gross misconduct,’ putting its staff in danger , and fired me without a conversation or review. I wholeheartedly reject these charges.”
In her firing letter, obtained by Status, the Post objected to Attiah’s messages on Bluesky in which she wrote, “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is…. not the same as violence,” and “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.”
Many in Hollywood have taken care not to say anything that could be construed as disrespectful of Kirk. Kirk’s name went unmentioned at the Emmys, for example. And Stephen King quickly apologized for a tweet saying that Kirk “advocated stoning gays to death,” explaining that in fact Kirk had been demonstrating “how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages.”
King’s tweet came days before the opening of The Long Walk, the latest of many adaptations of his work.
On Monday, Vice President JD Vance pledged a crackdown on “radical left lunatics” he blames for encouraging Kirk’s death. He said the Trump Administration would “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence.”
The conservative-leaning Drudge Report shared a headline Tuesday that declared, “Cancel culture — now run by conservatives!”
Main image: Red Hood. DC Comics.