Kevin Feige Confirms More LGBTQ Marvel Heroes Across Phase 4
On the Hall H stage during the Marvel Studios panel last Saturday night, actress Tessa Thompson got a big cheer when she said that as the king of New Asgard, her character, Valkyrie, "needs to find her queen" in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. That was confirmation that we'll get to see deeper aspects of her life explored on screen in the new sequel, and specifically that the movie will address her bisexuality after a scene that alluded to it was cut from Thor: Ragnarok.
And Valkyrie isn't the only LGBTQ Marvel Studios character on the horizon: Kevin Feige confirmed that more were on the way, and we won't have to wait long to see them.
In an interview with io9 after the Comic-Con panel, Feige was asked if we're getting an LGBTQ-friendly story in Thor: Love and Thunder and how that might impact Valkyrie's story:
"The answer is yes. How that impacts the story remains to be seen. But that level of representation you will see across our films, not in just Thor 4."
Speaking with Collider, Feige also confirmed that The Eternals, another project which was officially announced during the presentation, will feature LGBTQ representation in its characters, but it's unclear if any other movies will feature LGBTQ heroes (or villains).
Joe Russo played a gay character in Avengers: Endgame in a very small role during a support group scene with Captain America, but Thompson's Valkyrie is the first full-fledged LGBTQ MCU hero. The actress revealed that the character is bisexual back in October of 2017, although arguably the only scene that truly hammered that point home was cut from the movie before its release. "There were things that we talked about that we allowed to exist in the characterization, but maybe not be explicit in the film," Thompson said at the time. "There's a great shot of me falling back from one of my sisters who's just been slain. In my mind, that was my lover."
Fans were happy to see Thompson outspokenly reveal Valkyrie's sexuality on Twitter back then, but a little disappointed that the movie itself didn't do more to establish it. But it sounds like Marvel is no longer afraid of embracing a more inclusive approach to its characters, and we suspect that Valkyrie and an Eternals character won't be the only LGBTQ Marvel characters who emerge in Phase 4.
The Eternals hits theaters on November 6, 2020, and Thor: Love and Thunder arrives on November 5, 2021.