It’s finally happened, guys. For years now, Marvel fans have been clamoring for some actual LGBTQ representation in the MCU. Avengers: Endgame featured the first gay character in the franchise, but it was only director Joe Russo in a brief cameo. What fans were really after was either a new queer lead to be introduced or for an established face to come out. In today’s episode of Loki, the latter happened as Tom Hiddleston’s trickster confirmed that he was bisexual.
This monumental moment for the MCU occurred in a very casual way. Episode 3 saw Loki and his female counterpart, who goes by Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), trapped on Lamentis 1, a moon about to be destroyed. While on a train headed for a refugee ship that would take them off-world, the two make conversation and Sylvie presses Loki for information on his love life. Here’s how the exchange went:
Sylvie: “How about you? You’re a prince. Must’ve been would-be-princesses… or, perhaps, another prince?”
Loki: “A bit of both. I suspect the same as you.”
With these two lines, Marvel has blown the minds of the MCU fandom. Though Loki isn’t straight in the comics and so this revelation isn’t a huge surprise for those who are familiar with the anti-hero, it’s still a big deal as we were unclear if this was ever something that would be explored on screen. We still don’t know if he actually will get a love interest in the future – though some are hoping for a Loki/Mobius pairing – but this is definitely a massive step in the right direction.
The good news is that Loki won’t be the only queer leading character in the MCU for long. This November’s Eternals will introduce Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who’ll be portrayed as a married gay man. 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder will then see Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie searching for her queen of New Asgard, after Thompson previously clarified off-screen that her heroine was bi. Fingers crossed there will be many more after those two as well.
Loki continues next Wednesday on Disney Plus.
