Marvel’s Gay Superhero: The MCU’s LGBTQ Promis and Problems – IndieWire

Contents:

• 15 OPENLY GAY MARVEL CHARACTERS THAT MIGHT BE COMG TO THE MCU
• MARVEL’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO DEFEATS EVIL, MAK HISTORY ETERNALS TRAILER
• HOW MARVEL'S FIRST GAY MOVIE SUPERHERO CAN BE A SUCCS
• WAR EPTS OVER NEW MARVEL BLOCKBTER’S GAY SUPERHERO
• HOW ‘ETERNALS’ ESTABLISH THE MCU’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO AND SAME-SEX COUPLE A MOVIE: ‘IT’S LIFE-SAVG’
• A GAY SUPERHERO WOULD FALLY GIVE LGBTQ KIDS THE REPRENTATN THEY NEED — SO WHY ARE WE STILL WAG?
• THE GAY SUPERHERO ‘ETERNALS’ IS ‘WHAT AUDIENC HAVE BEEN WAG FOR,’ SAYS GLAAD (GUT COLUMN)
• LOOKG BACK AT THE MISTREATMENT OF MARVEL’S FIRST GAY COMIC SUPERHERO
• 8 MARVEL CHARACTERS WHO COULD BE THE MCU'S FIRST GAY HERO
• MARVEL REVEALS FIRST GAY ‘CAPTA AMERI’ NEW COMIC SERI
• MARVEL INTRODUC A NEW GAY SUPERHERO: CAPTA AMERI
• TOP MARVEL EXECUTIVE: ‘THE WORLD IS READY’ FOR A GAY SUPERHERO THE MCU
• ETERNALS STAR HAAZ SLEIMAN CAN’T WA TO DEBUT THE MCU’S FIRST OPENLY GAY COUPLE ONSCREEN

15 OPENLY GAY MARVEL CHARACTERS THAT MIGHT BE COMG TO THE MCU

Avengers: Endgame gave the first openly gay character the Marvel Cematic Universe, but left a lot of fans (who have spent the last wag to see a gay superhero jo the Avengers) pretty unrwhelmed. While many fans hope that Marvel Studs ntu to diversify the superhero they brg to live-actn, Eternals recently took a signifint step forward by prentg Phastos as part of the first openly gay superhero uple the MCU.

Viv’s sexualy hasn’t been nfirmed the ics, but she's kissed Ironheart and was strongly suggted that she’s eher gay or asexual when she said, “an attractn to boys is nowhere wh me. Northstar was a landmark character for ic book history bee he was one of the first gay superhero, the first to e out a Marvel book, and 2012, he beme the first character to have a same-sex weddg a mastream ic. Phastos may be half of the first openly gay relatnship the Marvel Cematic Universe, but Negasonic Teenage Warhead was part of the first gay superhero uple all of superhero cema several years earlier.

MARVEL’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO DEFEATS EVIL, MAK HISTORY ETERNALS TRAILER

Dcribed as an “telligent ventor” an acpanyg summary, the character will reportedly break ground by sharg the film stud’s first onscreen gay kiss wh his hband, played by out, gay Lebane actor Haaz an terview, Sleiman said the climactic smooch was an emotnal moment on set, pecially given s importance to LGBTQ+ reprentatn. The Marvel Cematic Universe (MCU) was fairly slow troducg LGBTQ+ characters —though seeg as even the most chaste reprentatns of queer love get the films banned some untri, you n see why they would be Strange and The Multiverse of Madns actually breaks the rerd for the most lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and/or queer characters an MCU property wh three.

However, seeg as two of them do not talk, and one never mentns their sexualy out loud, clearly there is still some work to be done when to LGBTQ+ MCU is of urse fairly sexls general, but any mentns of queer sexuali have tend to be very brief, the better to allow Disney to easily cut out the scen more homophobic markets.

Phastos is also the anchise's first out gay superhero, and the pair share the anchise's first gay kiss (and one of the few kiss general the MCU) his partner Ben do not get much screen time, his stg mak a bold statement. We’ve put together this list to troduce some of the most fluential gay superhero, rangg om groundbreakg figur like Marvel’s Northstar to characters like Harley Qun who only me out the past few 12 most inic gay superhero1) Wonr WomanDiana of Themyscira has a long and storied history as a queer in. (CC-BY-SA)2) MidnighterPossibly the bt-known gay superhero ic book circl, Midnighter was created as a parody of Batman, startg off the adult-rated Wildstorm ic Stormwatch.

HOW MARVEL'S FIRST GAY MOVIE SUPERHERO CAN BE A SUCCS

Thanks to the X-Men ics’ love of time travel hijks, there are actually two versns of this character at the moment: A teenage Iceman who realized he was gay after Jean Grey read his md, and an adult versn who stayed the closet and dated women for years, but me out after beg nonted by his younger self.

The recent Iceman solo seri foced on his life after this revelatn, earng a mixed rponse bee while ’s great to see a gay character gettg their own ic, his emotnal arc is a rather old-fashned g-out story. In recent years she was rewrten to be gay herself, a ntroversial cisn that led to some problems of s her ic’s creators wanted her to marry her girliend, DC nixed the cisn by sayg hero “shouldn’t have happy personal liv, ” a dub statement that sounds pretty ridiculo the ntext of, say, Superman.

WAR EPTS OVER NEW MARVEL BLOCKBTER’S GAY SUPERHERO

One of the origal X-Men, Bobby Drake is probably one of the most high-profile hero to e out recent is easier for publishers to make queer characters si-characters or one-offs, makg Iceman gay was a huge shift for ics. Not only did the character have a history on the screen, but when to the X-Men, Iceman is one of the stars who will no doubt appear Marvel tl until the day when Marvel shuts he hasn't been onscreen sce he me out officially, if the character do appear the future, makg him anythg but gay would fely e an uproar. When to queer ic book characters, one of the first and most important was Northstar, who was the first character a Marvel ic to e out as gay "Alpha Flight" #106 (1992) then, the mutant superhero has had a sttered rerd of appearg the ics, but 2012 ma history once aga by beg part of the first gay weddg Marvel ics history.

HOW ‘ETERNALS’ ESTABLISH THE MCU’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO AND SAME-SEX COUPLE A MOVIE: ‘IT’S LIFE-SAVG’

So when the teen Jean Grey tak the teen Iceman asi 2015's All-New X-Men #40 to reveal that she knows he's gay, there is also an olr versn of Iceman out there the world who has been datg women for his entire adult life. When Jordan’s Green Lantern buted 1959, Stt was relegated to an alternate universe and, over the s, he’s retired, returned to crime-fightg, been tossed limbo, bee an elr statman, and been rebooted as a young gay crimefighter on yet another alternate Earth.

A GAY SUPERHERO WOULD FALLY GIVE LGBTQ KIDS THE REPRENTATN THEY NEED — SO WHY ARE WE STILL WAG?

This year, Green Lantern Alan Stt returned to his roots as an olr WWII-era hero who has “walked this Earth for a long time, much longer than should have been allotted, ” as he said March’s “Infe Frontier” the same issue, penned by bisexual wrer Jam Tynn IV, the gray-haired rg-slger out as gay to his adult children, the superhero duo Ja and Obsidian. ”Capta Ameri"The Uned Stat of Capta Ameri" ic book verMarvelIn June, Marvel’s “The Uned Stat of Capta Ameri” miseri hs stor, troducg rears to a variety of everyday people om all walks of life who’ve taken up the mantle of Capta Ameri to fend their is gay teenager Aaron Fischer, “the Capta Ameri of the Railways, ” scribed a release as “a fearls teen who stepped up to protect fellow naways and the unhoed. “I am happy to be able to prent an openly gay person who admir Capta Ameri and fights agast evil to help those who are almost visible to society, ” Bazaldua said a statement.

There have been several LGBTQ+ superhero the X-Men roster, such as Bobby Drake, a gay man, Magik, a bisexual woman, or even Jsie Drake, a transgenr girl, among many others.

THE GAY SUPERHERO ‘ETERNALS’ IS ‘WHAT AUDIENC HAVE BEEN WAG FOR,’ SAYS GLAAD (GUT COLUMN)

The new Aquaman who appeared Young Jtice: Outsirs was also nfirmed to be a gay character 2019, ScreenRant reported at the time, and a wrer for DC Comics said durg an terview wh Comisy 2016 that Wonr Woman is the summer of 2019, CNN reported Valkyrie beme the first LGBTQ character to appear a Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunr. “You know, somebody asked me will there be any gay characters Marvel movi, and what I meant was there’s a lot of characters the MCU and very few of them have we lved to what their sexuali are — whether ’s gay or straight or bisexual, ” Gunn said. Marvel parent pany Disney has weathered plenty of censorship battl over LGBTQ ntent s films, which began wh the overhyped “exclively gay moment” s live-actn remake of “Bety and the Beast” 2017, but the ristance to givg to the mands this time around perhaps signals an important sea change.

Sce the “Bety and the Beast” kerfuffle, Disney has faced both backlash and praise for a lbian character Pixar’s “Onward, ” a non-bary character “Wt Si Story, ” and a gay romance Marvel’s “Eternals. It’s only ftg that Osr wner Chloé Zhao would oversee the but of Marvel’s first openly gay superhero, makg history wh the troductn of ​​Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, whose hband and child are key to his dramatic arc. Amidst a publicy maelstrom surroundg Disney’s rponse to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which crics emed too ntral but still uld jeopardize the pany’s special stat Florida, the stud is holdg firm on a lbian reference “Doctor Strange the Multiverse of Madns.

LOOKG BACK AT THE MISTREATMENT OF MARVEL’S FIRST GAY COMIC SUPERHERO

Even then, the brief cln of one gay character didn’t make up for all the tim that Marvel didn’t seize the opportuny to exprs the queerns of other LGBTQ+ characters on the big screen. When Robert Kirkman first troduced this Green Lantern knockoff 2006, Marvel promoted him as the new gay superhero a bid for clivy, but jt one month later, Curtis was sudnly killed off.

8 MARVEL CHARACTERS WHO COULD BE THE MCU'S FIRST GAY HERO

“Eternals” also hosts the most diverse lp of any Marvel movie, cludg not only a first openly gay fay, but actors of many different ethnic backgrounds and the first af superhero.

This also isn’t Marvel’s first attempt at diversifyg s films; an openly gay character was clud “Avengers: Endgame, ” and the star character of “Loki, ” a seri on Disney Pl, is bisexual. The 45-year-old actor, who me out as gay 2017, uld srcely believe he was on the red rpet for a massive stud movie which his character, Ben, is the hband of one of the tle superhero, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry).

" Rso played a man Steve Rodgers' support group post-snap who sually mentned that he went on a date wh a be clear, my face l up the cema when watchg this, and was exactly the sort of reprentatn that we sometim need — a character who jt so happens to be gay, but isn't ma to a big al. "Meanwhile, the Marvel Cematic Universe's upg movie "The Eternals" is reported to clu the MCU's first openly gay characters and uple — Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos and Haaz Sleimen's character, who is unnamed as of yet, will play hbands. However, may not be a gay man, I am worried that once aga, the LGBT characters are gog to be sikicks to the straight leadg characters, a pattern that has been repeated throughout the history of mastream queer reprentatn Marvel movi 'would be massive'What this silg of queer characters do is sentially send the msage to young LGBT kids that they aren't worthy of leadg stat, and straight people e first.

MARVEL REVEALS FIRST GAY ‘CAPTA AMERI’ NEW COMIC SERI

"I hope that Valkyrie and Phastos are given storyl that embrace and nont queer issu and queerns directly, but even if they are, a leadg gay superhero is still need to tell LGBT kids across the world that they n be superhero, too. I often thk about what I would have done to have had that film when I was a 10-year-old kid stgglg wh my sexualy, entrenched fear, doubt, and 's not an overstatement to say that one film uld have saved me om years of reprsn and ternalized homophobia.

Superhero are pretty gay anywayQueer director Daniel Ribeiro, who directed "The Way He Looks, " told Insir: "I've always thought 'X-Men' was jt a big queer movie, so I thk everyone who is LGBT knows what they are talkg about a way.

To see somethg like a gay weddg an MCU film would be nothg short of 's track rerd won't fill LGBTQ people wh hopeWhile I am exced to see Valkyrie and Phastos "Love and Thunr" and "The Eternals, " and hope that they are given very proment rol their rpective films, I am hant to get my hop up jt don't have an amazg track rerd when to LGBT om the aforementned Le Fou cint, Disney has tried to make good on their promise of reprentatn wh a smatterg of unnamed background characters, like "Zooptopia" and "Onward, " while they bottled the chance of givg queer lead characters their other flagship anchise, "Star Wars. Marvel has been teasg the ia of a gay superhero the MCU sce as early as 2015, when Feige first hted that a gay superhero uld appear an “Avengers” movie sometime the next durg Phase Four.

MARVEL INTRODUC A NEW GAY SUPERHERO: CAPTA AMERI

While neher Disney nor Marvel Studs has nfirmed , a stg notice for the upg tentpole om “The Rir” director Chloe Zhao was reportedly lookg for an openly gay actor to take on the role of Hercul “The Eternals. Fans and crics alike were disappoted that Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” erased Okoye’s (Danai Gurira) queerns, a storyle rived om Ta’Nehisi Coat, Roxane Gay, and Yona Harvey’s World of Wakanda ic.

TOP MARVEL EXECUTIVE: ‘THE WORLD IS READY’ FOR A GAY SUPERHERO THE MCU

Seeg a powerful gay superhero kiss his hband and feelg the reactn that theater was a real-life example of why is important for our stori to be told – pecially films that travel to big ci and small towns around the world.

Siarly, on the CW’s “Supergirl, ” the tular hero’s sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) is gay and has had multiple girliends; on Season 4, the show buted TV’s first trans superhero, Dreamer (played by trans actor Nile Ma).

ETERNALS STAR HAAZ SLEIMAN CAN’T WA TO DEBUT THE MCU’S FIRST OPENLY GAY COUPLE ONSCREEN

Amazon’s “The Boys” explor how Queen Maeve (Domique McElligott) had to end her relatnship wh her girliend for fear of beg outed; on “Invcible, ” by ntrast, the tular hero’s gay bt iend William (Andrew Rannells) is very much out and proud. Whether Loki will ever have e to exprs same-sex love or sexual attractn remas to be seen, but at least two queer characters are on the MCU’s immediate horizon: The feature film “Eternals, ” set to open November, will clu the MCU’s first gay superhero Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who will have a hband (played by out actor Haaz Sleiman). The troductn of Wanda Maximoff’s tw sons Billy and Tommy on Disney Pl’ “WandaVisn” suggts that they will eventually evolve to their rpective ic book personas of Wicn (who is gay) and Speed (who is bi).

Avengers: Endgame did clu a meo om director Joe Rso which he plays a gay character who gets a few l which he talks about gog on dat wh men durg a group therapy ssn led by Capta Ameri. ”) And Marvel found self hot water when Anthony Mackie rpond to a popular fan theory that his character Sam Wilson (the new Capta Ameri) and his iend Bucky Barn (played by Sebastian Stan) are gay.

“You would always meet your iends at the bar, but you n’t do that anymore, bee somethg as pure and betiful as homosexualy has been exploed by people who are tryg to ratnalize themselv. In the live-actn Bety and the Beast, Josh Gad’s LeFou danc wh his csh Gaston what the director lled an “exclively gay moment”—albe the story arc of a silly sikick.