Roxane Gay's 'World of Wakanda': How Sndal spired the new Marvel ic |

Contents:

• ‘BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’ BANNED CHA FOR HAVG GAY CHARACTERS
• BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’S ONLY LGBTQ+ MOMENT CUT FOR KUWA RELEASETWO OTHER SMALL BUT KEY MOMENTS WERE ALSO CUT OM THE FILM. BY YOHANA DTANOVEMBER 11, 2022COURTY OF MARVEL STUDS/DISNEY.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEIN BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, THERE’S A BRIEF MOMENT WHERE ’S MA CLEAR THAT MICHAELA COEL AND FLORENCE KASUMBA’S CHARACTERS—ANEKA AND AYO, DORA MILAJE WARRRS—ARE A RELATNSHIP. BUT VIEWERS WHO WATCH THE FILM KUWA WILL NEVER SEE THAT MOMENT. ACRDG TO THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, THE BRIEF SCENE HAS BEEN CUT OM THE FILM FOR S THEATRIL N THE GULF UNTRY, REMOVG THE ONLY EXPLICLY LGBTQ+ SCENE THE BLACK PANTHER SEQUEL. IN THE SCENE, ANEKA KISS AYO ON THE FOREHEAD. AYO REPLI, “THANK YOU, MY LOVE,” MAKG CLEAR THE PAIR ARE ROMANTILLY LKED. THE SCENE LASTS JT A FEW SENDS (PAR FOR THE URSE WH MARVEL AND S TEPID LGBTQ+ REPRENTATN RERD), BUT WAS APPARENTLY STILL TOO MUCH FOR THE KUWAI CENSORS. THR ALSO REPORTS THAT A FEW OTHER SMALL BUT KEY EDS WERE MA, CLUDG A SCENE WHICH A WOMAN GIV BIRTH TO A CHILD AND A CHARACTER SAYS THE LE, “A GOD TO HIS PEOPLE” REFERENCE TO NAMOR, THE POWERFUL TALOKAN LEAR PLAYED BY TENOCH HUERTA. ALL ALL, THE CUTS AMOUNT TO JT OVER ONE MUTE OF FOOTAGE, PER THR. A SOURCE NFIRMED THE CUTS TO VANY FAIR, NOTG THEY WERE DONE TO ADHERE TO KUWA’S CULTURAL SENSIVI. THE CUTS THAT WERE MA WERE EMED NOT CRIL TO THE STORY, AND WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN MA IF THEY IMPACTED THE STORYTELLG, THE SOURCE ADDS. TH FAR, THR NOT THAT KUWA IS THE ONLY GULF UNTRY TO N THAT LIGHTLY CENSORED VERSN OF THE FILM, A SEQUEL TO THE BILLN-DOLLAR 2018 H BLACK PANTHER. KUWA IS FAMOLY CENSOR WHEN TO S THEATRIL NS, REQUIRG THAT SCEN CLUDG TIMACY (REGARDLS OF GENR), RELIG REFERENC, MEDIL PROCR AND MORE BE EDED OUT OF FILMS, THE SOURCE TELLS VF. WHEN THE FIRST BLACK PANTHER WAS RELEASED, A SCENE PICTG A KISS BETWEEN T’CHALLA AND NAKIA WAS EDED OUT OF THE FILM BEFORE ULD H THEATERS THE UNTRY. IN A PREV TERVIEW, COEL HAS SAID THAT ANEKA AND AYO’S RELATNSHIP WAS ONE OF THE REASONS SHE SIGNED ON TO THE SEQUEL. “THAT SOLD ME ON THE ROLE, THE FACT THAT MY CHARACTER’S QUEER,” SHE RECENTLY TOLD VOGUE. THE EMMY-WNG MULTIHYPHENATE, WHO IS BRISH-GHANAIAN, WAS PARTICULARLY TERTED PLAYG ANEKA BEE GHANA HAS NOTORLY OPPRSIVE ANTI-LGBTQ+ LAWS. “PEOPLE SAY, ‘OH, ’S FE, ’S JT POLICS.’ BUT I DON’T THK IS JT POLICS WHEN AFFECTS HOW PEOPLE GET TO LIVE THEIR DAILY LIV,” SHE NTUED. “THAT’S WHY FELT IMPORTANT FOR ME TO STEP AND DO THAT ROLE BEE I KNOW JT BY MY BEG GHANAIAN, GHANAIANS WILL E.”KASUMBA HAS SIARLY SPOKEN OUT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF QUEER REPRENTATN THE MARVEL CEMATIC UNIVERSE. “WHEN YOU SEE THAT A PRODUCTN LIKE THIS, WH PEOPLE YOU REALLY LOOK UP TO, MAK A BIG DIFFERENCE,” SHE TOLD DIGAL SPY. IN THE FIRST BLACK PANTHER, THERE WAS ORIGALLY A SCENE AN EARLY ROUGH CUT WHERE KASUMBA’S AYO APPEARED TO FLIRT WH OKOYE, THE DORA MILAJE LEAR PLAYED BY DANAI GURIRA (THOUGH MARVEL PREVLY CLARIFIED THAT THEIR RELATNSHIP WAS NOT ROMANTIC). HOWEVER, THE SCENE WAS ULTIMATELY CUT OUT OF THE FAL FILM. WAKANDA FOREVER SEEMS TO, AT LAST, MAKE GOOD ON SHOWG THIS ASPECT OF AYO’S LIFE—EVEN IF IS AS WILDLY BRIEF AND MARVEL-SAFE AS POSSIBLE. THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED. MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMER25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)MOST POPULARNEW ON NETFLIX: SEPTEMBER 2023'S BT NEW MOVI & SHOWSBY CHRIS MURPHYAND JT LIKE THAT… HERE’S WHAT WE NEED SEASON 3BY HILLARY BISOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLYOHANA DTA
• ROXANE GAY'S 'WORLD OF WAKANDA': HOW SNDAL SPIRED THE NEW MARVEL IC
• GAYS ON FILM

‘BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’ BANNED CHA FOR HAVG GAY CHARACTERS

Meanwhile, Chavez (Xochl Gomez) herself, who intifi as a lbian the ics, do wear an LGBTQ+ badge durg the movie but the film don't explore her own biggt form of LGBTQ+ reprentatn me "Eternals, " which premiered last year, where one of the hero Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is married to a man and has the first on-screen gay kiss. Even Sdi Arabia, where homosexualy is illegal, will show the forehead kiss. Recent blockbters such as “Thor: Love and Thunr, ” “Doctor Strange the Multiverse of Madns” and “Wt Si Story” reportedly didn’t make to Sdi theaters bee of same-genr kiss and gay or transgenr characters.

She add that “by my beg Ghanaian, Ghanaians will e”, and that she wanted to provi a posive LGBTQ+ portrayal for those the untry, where is illegal to be gay.

This trend n also be spotted the recent Thor: Love and Thunr, which director Taika Wai claimed was “super gay” but ntaed ltle actual LGBTQ+ romance. This clud Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, who beme the first openly gay super-powered hero the MCU.

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’S ONLY LGBTQ+ MOMENT CUT FOR KUWA RELEASETWO OTHER SMALL BUT KEY MOMENTS WERE ALSO CUT OM THE FILM. BY YOHANA DTANOVEMBER 11, 2022COURTY OF MARVEL STUDS/DISNEY.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEIN BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, THERE’S A BRIEF MOMENT WHERE ’S MA CLEAR THAT MICHAELA COEL AND FLORENCE KASUMBA’S CHARACTERS—ANEKA AND AYO, DORA MILAJE WARRRS—ARE A RELATNSHIP. BUT VIEWERS WHO WATCH THE FILM KUWA WILL NEVER SEE THAT MOMENT. ACRDG TO THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, THE BRIEF SCENE HAS BEEN CUT OM THE FILM FOR S THEATRIL N THE GULF UNTRY, REMOVG THE ONLY EXPLICLY LGBTQ+ SCENE THE BLACK PANTHER SEQUEL. IN THE SCENE, ANEKA KISS AYO ON THE FOREHEAD. AYO REPLI, “THANK YOU, MY LOVE,” MAKG CLEAR THE PAIR ARE ROMANTILLY LKED. THE SCENE LASTS JT A FEW SENDS (PAR FOR THE URSE WH MARVEL AND S TEPID LGBTQ+ REPRENTATN RERD), BUT WAS APPARENTLY STILL TOO MUCH FOR THE KUWAI CENSORS. THR ALSO REPORTS THAT A FEW OTHER SMALL BUT KEY EDS WERE MA, CLUDG A SCENE WHICH A WOMAN GIV BIRTH TO A CHILD AND A CHARACTER SAYS THE LE, “A GOD TO HIS PEOPLE” REFERENCE TO NAMOR, THE POWERFUL TALOKAN LEAR PLAYED BY TENOCH HUERTA. ALL ALL, THE CUTS AMOUNT TO JT OVER ONE MUTE OF FOOTAGE, PER THR. A SOURCE NFIRMED THE CUTS TO VANY FAIR, NOTG THEY WERE DONE TO ADHERE TO KUWA’S CULTURAL SENSIVI. THE CUTS THAT WERE MA WERE EMED NOT CRIL TO THE STORY, AND WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN MA IF THEY IMPACTED THE STORYTELLG, THE SOURCE ADDS. TH FAR, THR NOT THAT KUWA IS THE ONLY GULF UNTRY TO N THAT LIGHTLY CENSORED VERSN OF THE FILM, A SEQUEL TO THE BILLN-DOLLAR 2018 H BLACK PANTHER. KUWA IS FAMOLY CENSOR WHEN TO S THEATRIL NS, REQUIRG THAT SCEN CLUDG TIMACY (REGARDLS OF GENR), RELIG REFERENC, MEDIL PROCR AND MORE BE EDED OUT OF FILMS, THE SOURCE TELLS VF. WHEN THE FIRST BLACK PANTHER WAS RELEASED, A SCENE PICTG A KISS BETWEEN T’CHALLA AND NAKIA WAS EDED OUT OF THE FILM BEFORE ULD H THEATERS THE UNTRY. IN A PREV TERVIEW, COEL HAS SAID THAT ANEKA AND AYO’S RELATNSHIP WAS ONE OF THE REASONS SHE SIGNED ON TO THE SEQUEL. “THAT SOLD ME ON THE ROLE, THE FACT THAT MY CHARACTER’S QUEER,” SHE RECENTLY TOLD VOGUE. THE EMMY-WNG MULTIHYPHENATE, WHO IS BRISH-GHANAIAN, WAS PARTICULARLY TERTED PLAYG ANEKA BEE GHANA HAS NOTORLY OPPRSIVE ANTI-LGBTQ+ LAWS. “PEOPLE SAY, ‘OH, ’S FE, ’S JT POLICS.’ BUT I DON’T THK IS JT POLICS WHEN AFFECTS HOW PEOPLE GET TO LIVE THEIR DAILY LIV,” SHE NTUED. “THAT’S WHY FELT IMPORTANT FOR ME TO STEP AND DO THAT ROLE BEE I KNOW JT BY MY BEG GHANAIAN, GHANAIANS WILL E.”KASUMBA HAS SIARLY SPOKEN OUT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF QUEER REPRENTATN THE MARVEL CEMATIC UNIVERSE. “WHEN YOU SEE THAT A PRODUCTN LIKE THIS, WH PEOPLE YOU REALLY LOOK UP TO, MAK A BIG DIFFERENCE,” SHE TOLD DIGAL SPY. IN THE FIRST BLACK PANTHER, THERE WAS ORIGALLY A SCENE AN EARLY ROUGH CUT WHERE KASUMBA’S AYO APPEARED TO FLIRT WH OKOYE, THE DORA MILAJE LEAR PLAYED BY DANAI GURIRA (THOUGH MARVEL PREVLY CLARIFIED THAT THEIR RELATNSHIP WAS NOT ROMANTIC). HOWEVER, THE SCENE WAS ULTIMATELY CUT OUT OF THE FAL FILM. WAKANDA FOREVER SEEMS TO, AT LAST, MAKE GOOD ON SHOWG THIS ASPECT OF AYO’S LIFE—EVEN IF IS AS WILDLY BRIEF AND MARVEL-SAFE AS POSSIBLE. THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED. MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMER25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)MOST POPULARNEW ON NETFLIX: SEPTEMBER 2023'S BT NEW MOVI & SHOWSBY CHRIS MURPHYAND JT LIKE THAT… HERE’S WHAT WE NEED SEASON 3BY HILLARY BISOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLYOHANA DTA

For ntext, like many Ain untri, Ghana has dranian anti-gay laws datg back to the 1860s. But a new bill was put to the Ghana parliament last year proposg the most opprsive anti-LGBTQIA+ legislatn passed whout amendments, uld make one intifyg as gay or even an ally a send-gree felony, punishable by five years Coel, she wants "to show that to Ghana" and that " felt important for me to step and do [this] role" bee she knows "by my beg Ghanaian, Ghanaians will e:"“I thought: I like that, I want to show that to Ghana. And wh Che and Kuwai censors moured to be the procs of banng screengs of the film bee of s “gay ntent, ” 's time to talk about this fabled LGBTQ+ ’s no hot take to state that Disney and Marvel have a ankly shockg track rerd when to LGBTQ+ characters and time a new Marvel film out, the same old hype is trotted out about how wonrful is that a queer character will be appearg the film, and how the character(s) are “tegral” to the plot.

A chaste peck was apparently enough to tick the half-arsed attempt at “gay reprentatn” box an ever-equent display of self-ngratulatory queerbag that is nothg short of characters don’t need to be fed by their sexualy, but they do need to be well-round characters. It’s hardly their flt that Marvel buckled once more, as there’s every chance that extra scen were filmed and end up on the cuttg room floor due to stud there li the ’s face facts: Marvel are too big to fail now and n afford to lose a few bigoted dience members at this, homophobic ternatnal laws reprent a bs realy for studs – wh Sdi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwa, Jordan, Egypt, and untls others, cludg over 30 untri Ai, still crimalizg same-sex relatnships.

The studs want to panr to queer dienc while not forsakg money om untri that ban gay simplistic as may seem, if homophobic numbers are a ncern, 'fs up and say that you choose not to fy ternatnal bigotry. And erasure at this pot jt looks like you’re admtg that queer characters don’t have stori that should be be fair, there was one openly gay character Avengers: was a throwaway moment which a member of a support group briefly mentned a date he went on. Valkyrie (Tsa Thompson) is apparently portrayed as there’s no real show or mentn of , spe the Thor: Love and Thunr st endlsly paradg to the prs that the film was “super gay.

ROXANE GAY'S 'WORLD OF WAKANDA': HOW SNDAL SPIRED THE NEW MARVEL IC

As for the much-publicised queerns of Doctor Strange the Multiverse of Madns' Ameri Chavez (Xochl Gomez), who was touted as fally brgg LGBTQ reprentatn to the MCU, all end up liverg was the character - who is nonilly a lbian the ics - wearg an LGBTQ+ badge on her jacket and her sexualy never, hooray for enamel far, the biggt form of queer reprentatn was the crilly maligned (but actually a lot better than people would have you believe) Eternals, which saw Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) married to a man and share an on-screen gay kiss. Even if the openly gay character was revealed as rponsible for the start of nuclear warfare later on the and ’s more tratg when to untri announcg they’re banng ntent - asi om the fact they’re tocratic regim hostile to all queer reprentatn and need to fally grow up - is that studs are reapg the looks good to be apparent opposn to tolerance - pecially when om the biggt anchise on the pla. After askg if they were on good terms and receivg nfirmatn they were om Aneka, the scene has had some nfn around homosexualy recently, what wh their 17 "first gay characters" and their attempts at mimizg LGBTQ+ reprentatn their films, so 's likely they played more to the cisn than those who head the Marvel Cematic are still plenty of characters wh the MCU who fall on the LGBTQ+ spectm one way or the other, but Disney's attempts to appease groups who oppose homosexualy uld further the divi and e more Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to h the Disney+ streamg platform on Febary 1.

RELATED | MCU Actor Dave Btista Reveals He Covered Up a Homophobic Tattoo. This isn’t the first time Marvel Studs’ support for the LGBT + muny has been shown, not jt for that clu openly gay characters their stori, as “Eternals”, but also for refg to censor the scen as long as the film premiered untri where this superhero pany cln policy is not shared. Until then, Bety and the Beast (2017) director Bill Condon ma ments that l the ter on fire wh the announcement that LeFou (Josh Gad) would be the subject of an "exclively gay scene".

On paper, makg LeFou gay do make some sense given his undyg loyalty to Gaston (Le Evans), so 's a change that uld work if done right and perhaps even help the remake (that nobody asked for) set self apart om the origal.

GAYS ON FILM

What is that "exclively gay scene" you ask? Rampant plot hol, poor explanatns for characters somehow returng and most relevant to today's topic, an out-of-nowhere gay kiss scene that means absolutely nothg to the overall story. The part-prequel/part-sp-off tellg the origs of inic space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) started a firtorm when, around the time of Disney's Florida ntroversy, was revealed that Disney had cut a gay kiss om the then-upg Pixar film.

Words by Roxanne Gay and Ta-Nehisi Coat, art by Alha Martez and Rachelle Rosenberg.