Is Marvel set to introduce its first LGBT movie hero?

There’s no denying that the Marvel films are insanely popular, and as the franchise’s 13th instalment Captain America: Civil War looks set to break box office records, Marvel’s status as one of the most widely-watched studios looks assured for some time to come.

Promising then, is the fact that we could be seeing an LGBT character being introduced to the movie universe soon.

Civil War directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, spoke to Collider and answered one of the biggest questions fans have been asking: will there be an LGBT character?

“I think the chances are strong,” Joe Russo said.

“I mean, 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.”

civilwar5-xlarge

He continues by saying it’s sad that Hollywood lags behind other industries.

“One, because you think that it would be a progressive industry and two, it’s such a visible industry.”

Joe Russo states that it’s important to push for diversification “because then storytelling becomes more interesting, more rich and more truthful.”

The pair’s comments come as GLAAD releases it annual reports on the state of LGBT representation in Hollywood, and called on Disney to introduce sexually-diverse characters into the Star Wars universe.

While some have criticised Marvel for lacking diversity onscreen, others argue that it may be too ‘risky’ to introduce LGBT characters into films that may then face challenges in the Russian or Asian .

Anthony Russo however says that with the studio’s popularity and the amount of success Marvel films have had, it should be easier to take these ‘risks’.

“I think this is a philosophy of Marvel, in success it becomes easier to take risks,” he says.

civilwarfeature11-xlarge

“There’s a lot of unconventional ideas in Civil War in terms of what people’s expectations of a superhero movie are, but I think we were able to do that because Winter Soldier worked and Marvel’s been working in general, so there’s more boldness in terms of what you can try and where you can go. So I think that’s very hopeful for all of us moving forward that bolder and bolder choices can be made.”

Since Marvel is currently one of the most popular film series, the chance to include an LGBT character in their films will allow for better representation of the LGBT community and ultimately, spread awareness across the world.

Upcoming Marvel films include Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther (2018), the studio’s first ever female-led movie, Captain Marvel (2019), and the Infinity War Parts 1 & 2 (2018 and 2019). With all of this happening, there must be a chance for an LGBT character to make an appearance?

We sure hope so.

You can watch the Russo brothers’ interview below:

In This Article: