Will Marvel movies ever actually commit to an LGBTQ character?

The set of films from Marvel Studios have seen an unparalleled amount of profit and praise, but it seems like they cannot figure out how to do one particular story.

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With the success of films like Black Panther and the announcement of the Captain Marvel and Black Widow movies, it feels like Marvel Studios is leaning towards a more progressive stance on their inclusion of types of people. However, they have yet to present a clearly LGBTQ character on the big screen. Even more odd is the fact that almost all of the Marvel efforts on television have been more inclusive, like Jessica Jones. 

Every time this is brought up to the people in charge of making these films, the question is always deflected into deleted scenes or mysterious predictions that an LGBTQ character might already exist in the MCU. Some might say that if a character’s orientation is not spelled out then anyone one of them could be gay, bisexual, or trans without any of us knowing it. That might be true but it could also feel like a cop out, attempting to satisfy those not feeling represented in these films.

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This article is not meant to indict Marvel or Marvel Studios. It is really about asking the question of why they haven’t done it yet.

The fact that Valkyire in Thor: Ragnarok would be bisexual was hyped and advertised quite a bit, but there was no proof of it in the final product. Deleted scenes and interview questions aside, the LGBTQ crowd has to continue to use their imagination when it comes to finding representation in the MCU films.

If you think there is no audience for this, just check out a wide array of the fan art of the MCU. It won’t take long to find fans rooting for these relationships. I mean the fanfic surrounding Cap and Bucky has its own section of the internet by now. I’m not advocating for canonically straight characters to be altered, but there are plenty of LBGTQ characters already out there to draw from.

There have been many missed opportunities in the movies they have already made. It is current comic book canon that Loki’s orientation is pansexual and two lesbian Dora Milaje even had their own comic book series for awhile that could have been included in the Black Panther’s plot. I mean Daniel Kaluuya is a great actor, but it would have been easy to cast his role as a woman and keep the relationship with Okoye the same. Their love story wasn’t really all that essential anyway. There’s been rumors of something like this showing up in Black Panther 2, but the LGBTQ crowd has been living off of rumors and possibilities since the beginning of this franchise.

What is interesting is that superhero universes, like the CW’s Arrowverse, have found it pretty easy to incorporate this group of people into the narrative. Almost every CW superhero series includes gay, lesbian, or bisexual characters without making it a big deal. I suppose that is the challenge: introducing a LGBTQ character without seeming like you are trying to cash in on that crowd.

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People might call bull on inflating these already often bloated movies with more story lines, but all it would take is one cutaway or a single scene establishing someone’s orientation to be the first comic book movie to pull this off. It seems like a foregone conclusion that one day Marvel Studios will include an LGBTQ character in their movies. I guess it is just a question of how long will it take.