Orson Scott Card

Although Orson Scott Card was silent amid the backlash that followed the announcement he would write a Superman story for DC Comics, the celebrated author has responded to a planned boycott of the film adaptation of Ender's Game over his statements about homosexuality and his opposition to same-sex marriage.

"Ender’s Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984," Card wrote in a statement to EW.com. "With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state. Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute."

A board member of the National Organization for Marriage, a group dedicated to the opposition of same-sex marriage, the author has tried to link homosexuality to childhood molestation, and advocated home-schooling to ensure children “are not propagandized with the ‘normality’ of ‘gay marriage.’” Following rulings by “dictator-judges” in 2008 that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, Card infamously endorsed a government overthrow.

DC’s announcement in February that Card would contribute to its new digital-first anthology Adventures of Superman sparked almost immediate outcry, leading the gay-rights advocacy initiative All Out to spearhead a petition demanding the publisher drop the author. Even as the first of several retailers pledged not to carry the print edition of Card's Superman comic, DC issued a statement that read, "As content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself.”

Less than a month later, the publisher was provided with an out when artist Chris Sprouse, who was hired to illustrate Card's story, announced he was leaving the project because of the media attention. DC said it would "re-solicit the story at a later date when a new artist is hired," but to date there has been no word on that front.

Concerns about a Card backlash reached beyond the comics industry, however. In February, The Hollywood Reporter wrote about the possibility of a ripple effect that could engulf Summit Entertainment's $110 million adaptation of Ender's Game, leading an unnamed studio executive to scoff at the idea of the author appearing alongside the movie's stars at Comic-Con International. As it turned out, Card won't be in San Diego next week.