Marvel’s gay superhero is already here: Existing character to come out
Hawkeye, War Machine, Iron Man, Captain America, Nebula, Rocket, Ant-Man and Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios)
Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have suggested that Marvel’s first gay superhero has been hiding in plain sight.
Joe Russo made a cameo in the record-breaking Endgame as an unnamed character who described going on a date with another man.
The blink-and-you’ll miss it moment was heralded as the first time an openly gay character had appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though some took offence to the somewhat tokenistic attempt at representation.
Asked by EW Morning Live to clarify whether the character was indeed the first LGBT+ person in the MCU, Joe gave an intriguing response.
“Yes, openly gay,” he said. “There’ve been insinuations about other characters’ sexuality, but this is the first openly gay character.”
“There’ve been insinuations about other characters’ sexuality.”
—Joe and Anthony Russo
“Who else is gay?” host Jessica Shaw asked.
“Uh—we’re gonna find out,” Joe replied.
“That’s a story for another day,” his brother Anthony added.
The Russos’ words chime with comments made by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who in 2018 said that LGBT+ characters would soon join the universe.
“Both ones you’ve seen and ones you haven’t seen,” he told The Playlist.
Is Valkyrie Marvel’s first gay superhero?
Tessa Thompson has already confirmed that she plays Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame character Valkyrie as bisexual, though this isn’t made explicit in the films.
“In the canon, yeah, she is bisexual,” she told Variety at the Endgame premiere on April 22.
Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnorok (Marvel)
“You see her with both women and men, so that was my intention in playing her.”
Thompson and Captain Marvel actor Brie Larson have both teased a potential relationship between their characters by reposting queer fan art.
In real life Thompson is attracted to men and women but does not label herself.
Marvel to introduce new gay superhero
On Monday (May 6), Anthony and Joe Russo teased the introduction of an all-new queer superhero.
“There is a gay character coming up in one of the films,” Joe told SiriusXM. “I think Kevin [Feige] will make that announcement, I’m sure pretty soon.”
Reports have suggested that the upcoming The Eternals will cast a gay actor to play an LGBT+ Hercules.
