A Brief History of the MCU’s LGBTQ Promises and Problems

The “Avengers: Endgame” Gay Moment

Director Joe Russo made quiet history with a little cameo in the 2019 blockbuster, which broke international box office records to become the highest-grossing film of all time, briefly surpassing “Avatar” for a few years until its 2021 re-release in China. Savvy fans can catch Russo playing a man at a grief counseling meeting who speaks about the loss of his male partner in Thanos’ snap.

“Representation is really important,” Russo said at the time. “It was important to us as we did four of these films, we wanted a gay character somewhere in them. 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. It is a perfect time, because one of the things that is compelling about the Marvel Universe moving forward is its focus on diversity.”

Notably, the moment was never doctored for international releases and received little public pushback. (If anything, many critics were disappointed at the brevity.) In his reasoning, Russo may have been hinting at some internal concerns, when he says he wanted to “ensure the integrity” by playing the character himself. After all, you can’t cut the director’s cameo.

Could Spider-Man Ever Be Gay? Sure!

In 2019, “Spider-Man” actor Tom Holland was asked what he thought about a hypothetical gay spidey. “Yeah, of course,” Holland said. “I can’t talk about the future of the character because honestly I don’t know and it’s out of my hands. But I do know a lot about the future of Marvel, and they are going to be representing lots of different people in the next few years. …The world isn’t as simple as a straight white guy. It doesn’t end there, and these films need to represent more than one type of person.”

Though we’ve yet to see this particular fantasy play out, despite multiple timelines and narratives for this character, Holland began a trend of Marvel actors speaking publicly about their hopes that the MCU include more LGBTQ characters. Though we know movie stars don’t actually write the scripts, they do have the power to change public opinion.

The “Thor: Love and Thunder” Promise, or Waiting for the Ride of the Valkyrie

OK, a gay Spider-Man is probably too much for the homophobes at home to handle, but what about a beloved supporting character in a spinoff franchise? Ever since Taika Waititi brought his special sauce to “Thor: Ragnarok,” the character and his people became some of the funnier MCU favorites, and are certainly capable of shaking up the franchise.

That includes Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who is bisexual in the comic book source material. Openly queer herself, Thompson is an expert at using her star power to push progress.

Back in 2017, she wrote on Twitter: “Val is Bi in the comics & I was faithful to that in her depiction. But her sexuality isn’t explicitly addressed in Thor: Ragnarok.” Then, in a 2019 Comic-Con appearance, she assured fans that Valkyrie would “find her queen” in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which prompted questions about it the next day for Marvel boss Kevin Feige. “The answer is yes,” Feige said at the time. “How that impacts the story remains to be seen with that level of representation you’ll see across our films, not in just Thor 4.”

“Eternals” Has a Gay Lead!

It’s only fitting that Oscar winner Chloé Zhao would oversee the debut of Marvel’s first openly gay superhero, making history with the introduction of ​​Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, whose husband and child are key to his dramatic arc. When the character loses faith in humanity, he is only softened by the sight of his family.

“To position that family in that specific situation and to have that moment feel authentic and real…the audience has to feel that to care. Otherwise, there’s no point in putting that onscreen because they don’t feel it,” Zhao said at the time.

But she was prepared for a battle around censorship, and predicted the backlash the film would eventually face: “I don’t know all the details, but I do believe discussions were had and there’s a big desire from Marvel and myself — we talked about this — to not change the cut of the movie. Fingers crossed.”

Let The Problems Begin…

True to its word, Disney and Marvel refused to edit the film for international audiences, including a chaste kiss between Phastos and his husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman). The studio paid the price, and the film was banned in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, all countries where homosexuality is illegal.

Disney eventually relented, agreeing to cut all scenes depicting intimacy, including the kiss, for the film’s release in Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.

“I’m sad for [those audiences]. And I’m proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out,” said bisexual “Eternals” star Angelina Jolie about the ban. “I still don’t understand how we live in a world today where there’s still [people who] would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love. How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn’t approve or appreciate it is ignorant.”

Marvel Refuses to Censor “Doctor Strange 2”

Amidst a publicity maelstrom surrounding Disney’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which critics deemed too neutral but still could jeopardize the company’s special status in Florida, the studio is holding firm on a lesbian reference in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

The hubbub concerns a moment in which the character of America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who also becomes the MCU’s first LGBTQ+ Latina superhero, references her two moms. 

“I think visibility at any age is incredibly important whether you’re 10, 20, 30 or 80,” Marvel executive and “Doctor Strange 2” EP Victoria Alonso told Deadline. “My hope today is that…if there are any kids out there thinking even minimally that their lives are not worth it, I can honestly tell you their lives are worth it and we will celebrate it with them. …We will continue to fight for inclusion in every place, city, and state so that every kid that doesn’t see themselves can at least see a tiny little bit of who they can become.”

“Doctor Strange” Won’t Play Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or Qatar

After the Saudi Arabian film board requested edits to “Doctor Strange 2,” namely that it cut the 12-second clip of America Chavez referencing her two moms, Disney refused. Saudi Arabia’s general supervisor of cinema classification Nawaf Alsabhan objected to the characterization that the film was “banned,” perhaps signaling a slight flicker of concern for the country’s image to the rest of the world.

“It’s just her talking about her moms, because she has two moms,” Alsabhan said. “And being in the Middle East, it’s very tough to pass something like this.”

The Endless Queerbaiting of “Thor: Love and Thunder”

Long thought the most promising chance at getting a full blown queer character in the MCU, the release of the fourth “Thor” movie only brought more diappointment. With out queer actress Tessa Thompson playing the canonically bisexual character Valkyrie, one would think 2022 might be high time to finally see this queer warrior “find her queen,” as Thompson promised in 2019. 

Unfortunately, “Thor: Love and Thunder” was much of the same, with a passing line about Valkyrie’s fomer (and deceased) girlfriend apparently meant to be some huge, long-promised reveal. Thompson recently said that Valkyrie’s storyline in the film was a” big topic of conversation,” and added that she “feel[s] really good, personally, about where we got to.”

But even in those comments, Thompson appeared to be hedging on years of promises, adding, “I hope that she’s a character that fans continue to connect to, that we have a lot of time to explore her, in all of her humanity. But whether or not she finds love in this movie doesn’t mean she’s not still a fabulous queer character that is open to finding love when it makes sense.” As of now, that promised representation has still not emerged, but hey, maybe in the next film?

The Extremely Chaste Head Kiss in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Despite being a nation led by powerful women and protected by an all-female army of warriors, Wakanda aparrently only has one lesbian couple — who love a steamy kiss on the head. Though the moment is being touted as a boon for Marvel’s LGBTQ representation, the actual evidence is yet another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it display of affection that is being bolstered by statements from the creative team.

Toward the end of the film, Michaela Coel’s character Aneka is seen kissing Florence Kasumba’s Ayo on the head, to which Ayo replies: “Thank you, my love.” Ah, yes, every lesbian’s favorite move — the old forehead-kiss-and-thank-you. (Also important: the pair never display any other indications they are a couple throughout the rest of the film.)

And yet, the brief scene has already been cut from the film’s release in Kuwait and may be banned in China, according to reports. (Via THR). For her part, Coel is outing her character in interviews, telling Vogue: “That was what sold me on the role, the fact that my character’s queer.”