Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are going to meet more LGBTQ+ characters as the hit superhero franchise continues to expand.
A couple of weeks after Tom Hiddleston’s Loki low-key confirmed that he identifies himself as bisexual in the third episode of Disney+’s Loki, Marvel producer Victoria Alonso confirmed that the MCU will introduce more LGBTQ+ characters in its upcoming movies and TV series.
“It takes time, we have so many stories that we can tell,” Alonso told Variety during the recent Black Widow fan premiere. “We will empower those that are. We’re not changing anything. We’re just showing the world who these people are, who these characters are… There’s a lot that we have coming up that I think will be representative of the world of today. We’re not going to nail it in the first movie or the second movie or third movie, or the first show or second show, but we will do our best to consistently try to represent.”
Reacting to Hiddleston’s God of Mischief coming out as bisexual, Alonso noted that the reveal was “not a big deal” because the character has always been a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the source material.
“I have to be honest with you, it’s not a big deal,” Alonso said. “It is what it is when it suits the character. We’re not going to do it because it’s politically correct or incorrect. It is what it is. Don’t forget, we follow our comics. We try to follow them quite to the tee. So in the comics, this is who he was.”
While Alonso didn’t name the upcoming Marvel films and TV shows that will feature LGBTQ+ representation, it’s already been confirmed that Eternals will tell an LGBTQ+ romance between Brian Tyree Henry and Haaz Steiman’s characters.
Thor: Love and Thunder is also expected to canonize Valkyrie’s (Tessa Thompson) sexuality in the comics, as the character is expected to search for a “queen” to rule New Asgard alongside her in the upcoming fourth instalment of the Thor film series.
Though yet to be confirmed by Marvel, We Got This Covered also reported back in September 2019 that Captain Marvel 2 will bring in the gay character of Hulkling.
During a Q&A hosted by the New York Film Academy in December 2019, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that it’s “always” Marvel’s plan to make the MCU more inclusive and diverse following the box-office success of Blank Panther, which is the studio’s first film to feature a predominantly black cast, and Captain Marvel, which is the studio’s first film with a female lead.
“Every time we do a movie, we hope it’s going to succeed so that we can make another movie. That’s always the idea,” Feige explained. “And with those two films in particular, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, we wanted to keep showcasing heroes from the comics that represent the world that goes to see our movies. So our intention was always to continue to do that.”