A timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s LGBTQ+ representation
We want more queerness in the MCU!
2024 marks 16 years since the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
Since Iron Man in 2008, we’ve been treated to some spectacular adaptations of fan favourite comic book characters and storylines. There’s also been the occasional flop (Thor: The Dark World for example!)
However, one area where the MCU has continuously encountered criticism is its LGBTQ representation. And this is not entirely without reason.
There have been promises, teases, and hints of LGBTQ+ characters numerous. But fans have been repeatedly disappointed.
We’ve pulled together all the times we’ve seen LGBTQ+ representation on screen in the MCU as well as all the times we’ve been told more is coming.
2008
May – What will go on to become the MCU kicks off with the first Iron Man film.
2017
September – Captain America: Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo tell Collider that “the chances are strong,” for an LGBTQ+ superhero. They add: “It’s incumbent upon us as storytellers who are making mass-appeal movies to make mass-appeal movies, and to diversify as much as possible.”
October – Thor: Ragnarok stars Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie but scenes depicting her bisexuality are removed.
2018
June – Marvel head honcho, Kevin Feige, teases LGBTQ+ characters are coming.
2019
March – Kevin Feige, confirms rumours of a gay superhero coming soon are accurate. Rumours also say Marvel is looking for a gay actor to play the character.
April – 11 years after the MCU begins, it gets its first openly gay character albeit a small cameo from Joe Russo, one of the directors of Avengers: Endgame.
June – Feige, promises “more prominent” LGBTQ representation going forward. “That was never meant to be our first focused character,” Feige says of Russo’s Endgame cameo.
2020
January – Feige teases the MCU’s first trans superhero “very soon”. Asked about it he says: “Yes, absolutely yes. Very soon, in a movie, we’re shooting right now, yes.” That character has yet to appear.
2021
January-March – WandaVision sees Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) create her children, Billy and Tommy, through magic. In the comics, Billy also goes by the superhero name, Wiccan and is also a magic user. Wiccan marries his Young Avengers teammate, Hulkling. Tommy aka Speed is bisexual in the comics.
June – Promo for the first season of Loki indicates the character is gender fluid as they are in the comics. The character also references his comic-accurate bisexuality by saying he likes “a bit of both” when asked about relationships with princesses and princes by a variant of himself, Sylvie. We also presume she’s bisexual.
Loki actor, Tom Hiddleston, later says he wanted Loki’s bisexuality to be “meaningful” for fans. He also teases there’s “further to go”. It’s A Sin writer Russell T Davies blasts this as “pathetic.” Loki director, Kate Herron, says she’s “proud” of what they did and hopes more is to come.
October – Speaking at the worldwide premiere of Eternals Feige said Phastos was “just the start” of the franchise’s slate of LGBTQ+ heroes.
November – Eternals introduces the MCU’s first gay superhero, Phastos, a member of the titular group. Phastos is seen with his husband and son but due to the ensemble nature of the film gets little development. Haaz Sleiman, who plays Phastos’ husband, says “Everyone cried on set,” when a gay kiss was filmed.
November-December – Adetinpo Thomas’ character, Wendy Conrad, mentions her wife in passing in the Disney+ series Hawkeye. Conrad appears in three episodes of the series as a side character.
2022
March – BFI boss, Ben Roberts, blasts the “surface level,” LGBTQ+ representation. Referencing Eternals, he tells Attitude: “You can’t just put two characters on screen and say they’re married and then say nothing else about them again and assume your job is done. What do we know about them? Nothing. What do we care about them? Nothing. You’ve not asked us to invest anything in these people.”
May – Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduces America Chavez, who is queer like her comic book counterpart. This is barely indicated save for a Pride pin. We do see her mothers in a brief flashback before they are presumed to have died in a freak portal accident. Disney refuses to cut these references after Saudi Arabia and Egypt demand they’re removed.
July – Ahead of the release of Thor: Love and Thunder Natalie Portman says the film is “so gay.” Meanwhile, director Taika Waititi says “It’s insane,” that LGBTQ+ relationships aren’t already normalised in movies. He adds: “The good thing about doing it in these films, it’s mainstream movies where we get to see this and it’s normalised.”
July – Thor: Love and Thunder manages to leave in subtle references and hints at Valkyrie’s bisexuality. Brett Goldstein also cameos in an end-credits scene as Hercules, who in the comics is also bisexual. Korg is also revealed to be gay in a brief scene.
August – Marvel casts trans and non-binary actor Zoe Terakes in an undisclosed role in the upcoming series Ironheart. RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Shea Couleé also joins in another undisclosed role.
September – She-Hulk: Attorney at Law star Ginger Gonzaga confirms her character Nikki Ramos is bisexual after Ramos comments “Hetero life is grim,” while discussing dating profiles. She-Hulk also features Mr. Immortal, who is shown to have had relationships with men and women.
October – Trans actor, Zach Barack, calls out Marvel over its lacking trans representation. Barack appeared in Spider-Man: Far From Home alongside Tom Holland and Zendaya. Fellow trans actor, Tyler Luke Cunningham, also starred in the film.
November – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever contains a blink-and-you-’ll-miss-it queer moment as Aneka (Michaela Coel) lightly kisses her fellow Dora Milaje member, Ayo (Florence Kasumba), on the head.
2023
February – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is released. Speaking to Attitude at the UK premiere the stars and director, Peyton Reed, call on fans to “grow up” on LGBTQ+ characters. “This is the real world that we live in. This is not something new, that sort of thing is crazy to me,” said Reed. Some fans claim a queer moment in Janet (Michelle Pfieffer) possessing Scott’s (Paul Rudd) body and tenderly interacting with Hank (Michael Douglas).
March – It’s reported that Marvel producer, Victoria Alonso, who is LGBTQ+, was fired after being with the company since 2006. Reports indicated Disney fired her for “indisputable breach of contract,” while Alonso maintained it was because she refused “to do something she believed was reprehensible.” It was also reported that Disney wanted the word ‘Pride’ and rainbow decorations to be blurred out of shots so the film could be distributed in Kuwait. If this were so, it would be disappointing given Marvel’s refusal to make such edits for similar countries before.
May – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is released. As well as dealing with the subject of chosen family, a very queer theme, the film introduces another queer character. In the end credits scene, a white-haired girl seen throughout the film is revealed to be Phyla Vell. In the comics the character is queer.
November – The Marvels is released. Fans pick up on queer subtext between Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Valkyrie in one scene. There’s also criticism that a line (“We work better as friends”) making a queer relationship between the two more explicit is cut from the theatrical release of the film.
December – The Indigenous and queer actress Devery Jacobs voices the character of Kahhori in What If…? season two.
2024
January – Echo, the spinoff from the Hawkeye Disney+ series is released. It stars Devery Jacobs as Bonnie, the cousin of lead Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox).
March – X-Men ’97 debuts and brings a mix of nostalgia and exciting new storytelling to the MCU. It features Morph, who is confirmed to be non-binary, and also expresses their love for Wolverine on a couple of occasions. The series’s events are also partly inspired by the Orlando Pulse shooting from 2016, as the creator explains on social media.
July – The first trailer for the Disney+ series, Agatha All Along is released. It includes Heartstopper star Joe Locke as well as Aubrey Plaza. Locke’s character ‘Teen’ is gay as the actor shares with Rolling Stone UK.
July – Deadpool & Wolverine is released. It marks Deadpool and Wolverine’s first appearances in the MCU after the acquisition of 20th Century Fox. As well as both characters being canonically queer in the comics, the film features a number of gay jokes, which some fans take issue with and consider homophobic. Emma Corrin, who identifies as non-binary, also stars in the film as Cassandra Nova. There is also the queer relationship between Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio, which is carried over from Deadpool 2, as well as Shatterstar from the same film who is also queer in the comics. A member of the Time Variance Authority clearly lists after both Deadpool and Wolverine.