‘Not here baby, not here’: The MCU’s first queer character is not who you think it is

Thanks to Agatha All Along, the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes another important step towards meaningful LGBTQ+ representation. That’s welcome for sure, especially all the MCU’s misfires in that department, which began with the franchise’s first queer character.

It took a long while for the MCU to feature queer characters, both on the silver screen and on television. Many fans think the first canonically queer character in the MCU is Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who debuted in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. However, since Valkyrie’s sexuality is never explored in the movie and only hinted at in behind-the-scenes interviews, some like to give the title to Joe Russo, who played an openly gay man in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Not that it meant much, as Russo just pops up for a few seconds of screen time as an unnamed Blip survivor.

Things get better if we consider semi-canon MCU productions like the Defenders universe. After all, in 2015, Jessica Jones introduced us to Carrie-Anne Moss’ Jeri Hogarth, a lesbian and one of the fiercest women in the MCU. Unfortunately, all these answers are wrong because the first queer characters in the MCU were introduced in 2014’s Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King.

There’s a reason why no one remembers Ben Kinsgley’s Trevor Slattery and Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer are queer

Set after the events of Iron Man 3, All Hail the King follows Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery life in prison. In Iron Man 3, we learn that Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian hired Trevor to play the role of the Mandarin, a fake terrorist who took the blame for all the explosive accidents caused by Killian’s Extremis experiments. Even if Trevor didn’t perform terrorist attacks, he helped a criminal organization and spread fear and chaos in the United States. So, of course, he got some jail time.

Overall, All Hail the King is a fun One-Shot that teases the existence of the real Mandarin and explains how the Ten Rings organization had nothing to do with Killian. That loose thread was surprisingly tied up seven years later in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, making All Hail the King all the more important for the MCU continuity. Sadly, this short also features the worst queer representation in Marvel Studios’ history, made even more tragic because it was the first MCU experiment with LGBTQ+ representativity.

During an interview for a documentary, Trevor reveals the things he misses the most in prison are the drugs and the “birds,” his way of referring to women. However, Trevor quickly adds that “you make do in that department” while in prison. To make the joke worse, Trevor also explains that he had never tried anything like it until he went to drama school. Because those damn artists are all preying on straight people and turning them gay, right?

To make matters worse, the same short film reveals a second MCU queer character. That’s because Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, one of the villains of Iron Man 2, is serving time in the same institution as Trevor. To make his surprising cameo “funnier,” All Hail the King gives Justin a boyfriend, joking about how they hide their relationship. In the middle-credits scene, Justin even gets angry at his boyfriend for trying to hug him in the mess hall, saying, “Not here, baby. Not here.” That’s it. That’s the joke. Industry mogul Justin Hammer is a closeted homosexual. Hilarious, right?

It’s a shame these two jokes stain what otherwise is a solid short film and a shining example of how the Marvel One-Shot helped expand the MCU. It’s even more shameful to realize the MCU’s first attempt at queer representation was making jokes about bisexual and gay men.

Fortunately, Loki has retroactively made Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief bisexual. So, let’s all agree he’s the first queer character in the MCU and leave it like that, ok?