Marvel Might Be Bringing the First Gay Superhero to the Big Screen

According to That Hashtag Show , Marvel Studios are looking for an actor, 30-49, who physically looks like a superhero for one of the films leads. While the studio is open to actors of all ethnicity, they would prefer the role go to an openly gay actor. It remains unclear whether the studio intends to write a gay character for this actor, or whether they are simply seeking to be more inclusive in the casting process.

Marvel Studios have been criticized for a lack of representation in this area before, and have even been accused of LGBTQ erasure in their screen treatment of beloved characters. Okoye was written as queer in the World of Wakanda comics but in Black Panther, the movie version of the character played by Danai Garira was married to Daniel Kaluuyas WKabi. Similarly, the final cut of Thor: Ragnarok omitted a key flashback scene which would have alluded to the bisexuality of Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).

Until now, the closest Marvel have ever come to having an openly gay character in their screen canon was Season 3 of Marvels Agents of SHIELD, which introduced inhuman Joey Gutierrez (Juan Pablo Raba) as part of the Secret Warriors subplot. However, Joey never really got much to do, and the shows first gay Latino superhero was promptly written out without fanfare.

Chlo Zhao is attached to direct The Eternals, which will begin shooting in Atlanta in August. She is the first woman of color to direct a Marvel movie, and only the second female director in the history of the MCU after Cate Shortland, who is behind the upcoming Black Widow.

Tipped to lead Phase 4 of the sprawling on-going movie mythos, the Eternals are a powerful alien race. How powerful, you ask? Thanos, the primary antagonist of the MCU, is one of them. And while their movie is slated for a November 2020 release, two characters are rumored to be making a cameo appearance in Endgame, so keep your eyes peeled come April 26.