Over the past 10 years, Marvel Studios has merely flirted with the addition of LGBTQ characters. And over at Warner Bros. and its own DC Extended Universe, the situation is similarly dire.
Because while Thor: Ragnarok actress Tessa Thompson approached Valkyrie as a bisexual character, and there is romance between the Dora Milaje members in Black Panther‘s comics, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has failed to include anything of real significance.
For DC, there’s a small pool of impassioned fans calling on Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot to embrace Diana’s bisexuality during Wonder Woman 2, though it remains to be seen if they will. This industry-wide oversight hasn’t gone unnoticed, either, as media monitoring giant GLAAD has now called out Marvel Studios (Avengers: Infinity War) and Warner Bros. (Justice League, Aquaman) to adopt a new and more inclusive approach moving forward.
There have been several films in recent years that have erased a character’s queer identity as they moved from page to screen. In 2017, Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok and DC’s Wonder Woman both included characters who are queer in the source material, but did not include on-screen confirmation of their identities. This must change going forward.
Diversity for diversity’s sake is one thing, but the media monitoring organization, one which has typically tracked the comic book industry and its own issues with representation, makes a fair point. If Deadpool 2 can include a same-sex couple, why should other superhero tentpoles shy away from LGBTQ representation?
Megan Townsend, Director of Entertainment Research and Analysis at GLAAD, continued:
Though wide release films this year like Love, Simon, Annihilation, Blockers, and Negasonic and Yukio’s relationship in Deadpool 2, have raised the bar for LGBTQ images, studios must still do more to ensure that LGBTQ storylines and characters are included in fair and accurate ways. We hope that these films are the start of an upward trend of sustained progress, and not just a blip on the radar of next year’s SRI.
But what say you? Do you believe it’s high time that Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. begin including LGBTQ characters in their biggest blockbusters? And is GLAAD right in saying that Deadpool 2 set the standard? Let us know your thoughts.