Part II: The God of Mischief and the Myth of MCU Queer Rep

Part II: MCU’s Complicated History of Queer Rep

Queerbait and Switch

When Marvel Studios announced that ‘Avengers: Endgame’ will finally feature MCU’s first (and long overdue) gay character in 2019, fans were excited. Instead of seeing their favourites with a queer identity, or getting a new LGBTQ+ superhero, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ featured an unnamed gay man (credited as “Grieving Man”) who mentions going on a date with a man in group therapy with Captain America. He appears on screen for around two minutes and is played by Director Joe Russo who said in an interview “We felt it was important that one of us play him, to ensure the integrity and show it is so important to the filmmakers that one of us is representing that.”

Unsurprisingly, fans were disappointed at this clear attempt at shoehorning diversity for brownie points.

Skeletons in the (closet)

Queer characters have often been subjected to censorship in the MCU. Valkyrie, the warrior from Asgard in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, was supposed to bisexual, as confirmed by the actress Tessa Thompson, who has been standing up for queer representation in Marvel movies. But her sexuality is only hinted at in the movies, like when in a flashback fight with Hela, a fallen female soldier might have been a love interest. Director Waititi initially included showing a woman walking out of Valkyrie’s bedroom, which was ultimately cut from the film since it “distracted from the scene’s exposition”.

In the comics, Valkyrie and anthropologist Annabelle Riggs share a kiss. And Thompson has ensured that they will be represented in the movies too. “As the new king, she needs to find her queen. So that will be the first order of business,” said Tessa at a Comic-Con panel in 2019 and hopefully Marvel will deliver.

Marvel has a history of not transferring LGBTQ+ representation from print to screen. MCU has featured multiple characters who were queer in the comics such as Dora Milage warriors Ayo (who features in ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Aneja, and Okoye (‘Black Panther’ 2018). Scarlet Witch’s children Tommy and Billy become superheroes as young adults in the comics who are queer, as well as America Chavez, who is set to make her debut in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. Fans hope that these characters will not be left behind on the new blazing trail of diversity.

Deadpool 2 introduced Yukio who became the girlfriend of Negasonic Teenage Warhead, making them the first queer couple to appear in a mainstream superhero movie. Now that Marvel Studios has bought the rights to X-Men from Fox, fans joke that the two will be censored and become “close friends” in the upcoming Deadpool movies.

Conglomerate Conundrum

Marvel had yet another queer controversy on their hands when ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier actor Anthony Mackie spoke in a Variety podcast about the popular fan theory of his character Sam Wilson (the new Captain America) and his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) are gay. He flailed and fumbled while tiptoeing the lines of political correctness and his paycheck, but it's hardly his fault he did not go against his current employers.

His response of wanting to portray the characters as friends is a common slammer to any questions about queer subtext by large franchises. Time and again moral fault is imposed on the audience for pointing out the ‘not-so-subtle subtext while benefiting from the engagement it brings. But hey, hate the fisherman, not the worm being used for bait. I am not going to elaborate on the long and complicated history of queerbaiting in the media since it would have ‘supernatural’ consequences on my mental health.

Disney has a queer little problem

The shopkeeper from ‘Frozen’ supposedly had a husband. Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) in ‘Solo had a ‘queer vibe’ and was shown flirting with everyone from his droid, and L3-37, to Han, but his sexuality was never explicit. In the 2017 ‘Beauty and the Beast’ live-action, Gaston’s sidekick is supposed to have a crush on him and the director describes their dance as an “exclusively gay moment”.

In the ‘Star Wars’ prequels Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) had romantic chemistry and both the actors were on board with the relationship, but, in the words of Oscar “ the Disney overlords were not ready to do that." Donald Glover revealed that his character Lando Calrissian was pansexual in an interview but his queerness onscreen was limited to a vibe. In a Sirius XM interview screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan said that he “would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie”, and Glover chimed in “How can you not be pansexual in space?”

Commander Larma D'Acy (Amanda Lawrence) shared a ‘blink-and-you-miss-it’ kiss with her pilot wife Wrobie Tyce (Vinette Robinson) in celebration after the Resistance defeated the First Order in the film's final act. This kiss was lost in a busy marketplace scene, moreover, since audiences had no attachment to these characters, there was no emotional payoff to this quick representation for gay characters.

*gasp* and other studios too?

J.K. Rowling, who revealed that Dumbledore was gay, and has made confusing statements about the romantic aspects of his and Grindlewald’s relationship. This, however, remains unmentioned in the books or Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) despite both characters and their relationship being important to the development of the plot. Sulu (John Cho) was featured hugging his husband for a split-second in the ‘Star Trek’ film series, which was another throwaway diversity grab.

Major movie franchises that do not have any openly queer characters including but not limited up to DCEU, Harry Potter, the X-Men films, Fast and Furious, Pirates of the Caribean, Mission: Impossible, and Jurassic Park. All of these have large ensemble casts yet remain adamantly cishet.

Something to cheer about!

Marvel shows such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Daredevil, The Defenders, etcetera have a few LGBT side-characters, but in comparison to their film franchise counterparts, the representation is applaudable. DC Arrowverse shows (The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Young Justice, Doom Patrol, et cetera) on the other hand have much more diversity, especially with the queer Batwoman the solo lead of her show.

Marvel Studios Head Kevin Feige revealed in the 2019 Comic-Con Marvel will have its first openly gay superhero in the November 2021 film ‘The Eternals’. Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry, is an inventor and is married to and has children with an architect played by actor Haaz Sleiman. Eternals will also feature Marvel’s first deaf character played by Lauren Ridloff.

Marvel has a goldmine of great queer characters and storylines in the comics that fans cannot wait to see reflected on the big screen. Destroyer and Brian Falsworth (the second Union Jack) were a couple and the first gay characters in Marvel. Hulkling and Wiccan are referred to as ‘Marvel’s most prominent gay couple’. Moondragon, the daughter of Drax, and Daken, the son of Wolverine, are both bisexual. In X-men #51 (June 2012) Marvel Comic featured their first same-sex wedding between North Star and Kyle Jinadu. Angela, long lost sister of Thor, is in a relationship with her best friend Sera (who is also trans and is rumoured to be introduced in the Loki series), a former warrior of ‘Heven’. Out of the various characters that take up the Captain Marvel mantle Phyla-Vell is a lesbian and Noh-Varr is a bisexual male.

Fans also look forward to the introduction of more openly queer characters in DC such as Harley Quinn, Apollo & Midnighter, Wonderwoman, Coagula, et cetera.

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