Kevin Feige Says We Will See An LGBT Character In The MCU... Eventually
We have begun to see an increase in LGBT(Q) characters in comic books, film and television recently; but so far none have been added to the most successful shared movie universe to date: The MCU. Kevin Feige addressed the chances of seeing it happen at a recent Ant-Man press junket...
Comics, movies and TV shows are steadily becoming more and more progressive, and last week's Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage will no doubt open the door for more LGBT (or LGBTQ, or LGBTTTQQIAA if you prefer) characters to get the spotlight across the various pop culture platforms.
There have been quite a few gay characters (129 according to Marvel Wikia ) depicted in Marvel Comic Books over the years, but none have been represented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. Collider asked the studio's head honcho Kevin Feige about this at an Ant-Man junket, and he replied that he "would think" within the next decade, "for sure."
He then added:
"Well in the drawing board going up to 2019 it remains to be seen. The comics always make the path that we get to have the fun of saying, ‘Yeah let’s choose this way or let’s choose this way’ and I think there are a lot of cool things happening in the comics now that—it’s usually a five to ten-year cycle between when something happens in the comics and when we can do it in the movie, sometimes a little less, but Civil War is certainly about the 10-year mark. Winter Soldier, I think, was around that time. So we always look at stuff that’s happening in the comics and go, ‘Where could we do that?’ Sometimes it’s sooner, but there’s no reason why that couldn’t happen in the next decade or sooner."
So, within the next ten years? That doesn't exactly suggest that the studio has any plans in motion to introduce an LGBT character, and if they are only looking to the source material for inspiration then it begs the question: who could they go with? There aren't really any MAJOR Marvel players that identify as LGBT - at least none that could readily be slotted in to the studio's current slate up to 2019. Sure, Iceman recently came out as gay but he's on Fox's roster. Phyla-Vell perhaps? She could tie into Infinity War at least.
Chances are if Marvel wants to introduce a prominent gay superhero/villain into the movie universe then they'll have to either create a new one or change the sexuality of an existing character. What do you guys think?
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.