Marvel Studios Will Announce First Openly Gay Superhero Character Sometime Soon
DirectorsAnthony & Joe Russofaced a little bit of backlash when they tried to make a big deal about the first openly gay character in a Marvel movie having a bit part in an early scene inAvengers: Endgame. The character was played by Joe Russo himself, a man dealing with the trauma of the snap by trying to go out on a date again with another man, as he recounts in a group therapy session that Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is leading.
But it sounds like there will be much more representation for the LGBTQ community in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future. According to Anthony & Joe Russo, the first openly gay superhero character will be announced by Marvel Studios very soon.
In a recent conversation onEntertainment Weekly’s morning showon SiriusXM, the two talked about that early scene in question, and the directing duo was asked to confirm whether Joe Russo’s cameo was the first gay character in the MCU. Here’s what they had to say:
“Yes, openly gay. There’s been insinuations about other characters' sexuality, but this is the first openly gay character.”
When asked what other characters are gay, the Russos didn’t want to give anything away. Joe said, “We’re gonna find out,” while Anthony added, “That’s a story for another day.”
If you’re wondering about what insinuations Joe Russo is referring to, it’s likelyTessa Thompson’s revelation that herThor: Ragnarokcharacter Valkyrieis bisexual. In fact, there was a scenethat was cut from the moviethat would have made that clear. More than likely that will be something coming in a future Thor sequel or some other film in the MCU.
Otherwise, let’s not forget that Kevin Feige said last summer that audiences would start to see LGBTQ representation in “both [characters] you’ve seen and ones you haven’t seen.” So maybe there are other characters besides Valkyrie who could turn out to be gay or bisexual. Captain Marvel’s sexual preference hasn’t been revealed yet, after all. And there are other characters we don’t know much about in their personal lives who could get the same treatment.
However, there are also gay characters coming from Marvel Studios that we haven’t met yet. Joe Russo also said, “There is a gay character coming up in one of their films, and I think Kevin will make that announcement, I’m sure pretty soon.”
One of those characters will likely be in Marvel’s upcoming movieThe Eternals. AsThe Wrappoints out, a casting breakdown for a character called James is slated to be “openly gay/bisexual.” Leave it to the cosmic beings to be more open-minded about sexuality than Earth’s population.
As movies likeBlack PantherandCaptain Marvelhave shown, representation is important. Giving the spotlight to under-represented folks allows oppressed populations to have a superhero to call their own. Since the majority of superheroes are white and straight, it’s about time Marvel Studios started mixing things up and giving people characters that allow them to feel seen.
