Comics aren’t generally noted for having a lot of openly gay characters. Despite all the jokes about Batman and his “faithful ward” and Wonder Woman getting tied up by women nearly constantly for thirty years, in general, if we see a superhero’s sex life at all, they’re straight. The closest the movies have gotten is Deadpool, who might have a boyfriend in his sequel. Things have changed rapidly, though, and the Russo brothers seem to think Marvel’s movies should get with the times.
Talking to Collider in an interview, the Russos were asked about including LGBT characters, and they said the chances of that were ‘strong:’
…it’s incumbent upon us as storytellers who are making mass-appeal movies to make mass-appeal movies, and to diversify as much as possible. It’s sad in the way that Hollywood lags behind other industries so significantly, one because you think that it would be a progressive industry, and two it’s such a visible industry.
The Russos also shoot down the argument that China and Russia would never tolerate a gay character, usually Hollywood’s go-to excuse, pointing out Marvel is big enough to transcend cultural divides. Nor does it really carry water, as Marvel’s TV arm is well ahead of the movies in this respect and just as successful. Jessica Jones‘ Jeryn Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) is not only a lesbian, her personal life ties into the plot, and Agents of SHIELD has an openly gay Inhuman. In fact, Marvel has even confirmed fan speculation about one of the original X-Men in the comics, in addition to having several openly gay characters such as Northstar.
The main question, of course, is which character Marvel would introduce as gay. The main advantage Marvel has here is that it’s willing to change things up from the comics when it comes to non-plot details, which is why Idris Elba can play a Norse god and audiences don’t blink. There aren’t many superheroes whose sexuality would change much else about the character, so if they want to introduce a gay superhero on the big screen, they’ve got plenty to choose from. That said, good intentions aren’t a plan, so we’ll see if Marvel’s movies will catch up with the rest of the company.
(via Collider)
