By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Marvel's Kevin Feige Addresses Avengers: Endgame Gay Character
Fans were torn on the first LGBTQ representation in the MCU.
The introduction of Marvel’s first openly, unquestionably gay character in its cinematic universe happened with Avengers: Endgame — and not everyone in the LGBTQ community was thrilled with how it went down.
Co-director Joe Russo stepped in front of the camera to play a role credited only as “Grieving Man,” during which he makes a comment to Captain America about how he’s dating a man.
It would’ve been fine as a throwaway moment — more than fine, actually, as we need far more casually LGBTQ characters in media — but not only was it jarringly underwhelming for the MCU’s first blatantly queer rep, but it was also promoted ahead of time by Joe in a way that some fans felt was more congratulatory than truly progressive.
“Representation is really important,” Russo told Deadline upon the film’s release. “It was important to us as we did four of these films, we wanted a gay character somewhere in them.
Recently, io9 had the opportunity to ask Marvel boss Kevin Feige about the scene.
“That was never meant to be our first focused character,” Feige said. “That was just meant to be a matter of life and a matter of truth.”
“I guess it’s the first reference, so it does, of course, get a lot of attention,” he added.
Feige also pointed out the significance of Captain America not being remotely fazed by interacting with an openly gay man. And while yes, this is important, it probably would have been appreciated a lot more had the whole thing been handled in a different way.
We’re still reportedly getting actual LGBTQ superheroes in future films, but it’s been a long wait, and fans are getting antsy waiting. And the handling of Avengers: Endgame’s lone queer character in the entirety of the MCU so far also makes us wonder if any future queer heroes will be hyped up disproportionately to the screentime they actually receive.
One of the main messages of the MCU is hope, so we’re trying to hold onto that. Of course, all may be forgiven if you make some of our faves openly queer, Marvel. Just saying.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
