At the premiere of Ant-Man, Kevin Feige reveals there are no concrete plans to add an LGBTQ+ character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future.
Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, everyone is now wondering how this historic decision will impact our culture.
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Since we all go to the movies, the representation of minorities on screen — in terms of sexuality, race, gender and nationality — has always been hugely important in shaping societal attitudes towards marginalized population groups.
This is one of the main reasons Marvel fans have been clamoring for more diverse superheroes.
But while we’ve got both a female-centric and an African American-led movie coming up within the next five years, there’s still no sign of LGBTQ+ representation in the MCU.
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And while we wouldn’t expect Captain America to drive off into the sunset with Bucky Barnes in Captain America: Civil War (although that certainly wouldn’t be an unwelcome end for the troubled soldiers), there are more than 100 characters in the Marvel comics that are canonically non-straight.
And Marvel president Kevin Feige evidently isn’t opposed to adding an LGBTQ+ character (or 10?) to the MCU. But that, of course, doesn’t mean much until he does.
“There is no reason why that can’t happen any time soon,” Feige told SlashFilm at this weekend’s Ant-Man premiere.
Feige added, “You know, we pull the characters from the comics, [and] they’ve been very progressive in the comics. […] So I’d love it to find an organic, meaningful and natural way for that to happen at some point in the not so distant future.”
The not so distant future is of course a rather vague timeframe, but when speaking to Collider, Feige got a little bit more specific.
When Collider asked whether an LGBTQ+ character might join the MCU within the next decade, Feige replied, “I would think so, for sure.”
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Within the next decade is still not nearly as specific as we might have hoped, however. Especially because nothing has actually been confirmed yet, and Marvel is already set through 2019.
So perhaps the more important takeaway from Feige’s comments isn’t that an LGBTQ+ character might join the MCU, but that there are still no concrete plans in place.
But hey, maybe Marvel will surprise us.