“Eternals” introduces audiences to a new team of heroes, including the brilliant Phastos, an unmatched genius and inventor, as well as a loving husband to Ben and father to their son Jack.
This Friday, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to include a LGBTQ hero will hit theaters. Luckily for queer comic and hero fans, things are changing. “Deadpool 2” and “The New Mutants” are two examples of films in recent years which did introduce queer heroes with some significant story impact, but neither films were part of larger cinematic universes at the time of release. The “Wonder Woman” films continue to portray Diana as straight – despite her bisexuality in the comics – and there were scenes cut from “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Black Panther” which would have confirmed the identity of queer characters.
DC’s “Birds of Prey” (the only major studio theatrical release in 2020 to include a bisexual character) included the long-awaited film confirmation that Harley Quinn is bi, a moment so quick that many audiences could have missed it. Most have appeared in the Berlanti universe of series, with highlights including the introduction of Dreamer, television’s first transgender hero, on The CW’s “Supergirl,” as well as a Black lesbian hero leading “Batwoman.” In its second season, HBO Max’s “Harley Quinn” centered its plot on the romantic relationship of Harley and Poison Ivy, while the titular character in Disney Plus’ “Loki,” released this year, came out as bisexual.ĭespite all this progress, the LGBTQ inclusion seen on the page and on the small screen is still severely lacking when a character makes the jump to the big screen (and the big budget). In recent years, television has also begun to introduce meaningful LGBTQ heroes. All of these moments garnered major media attention and fan excitement from readers, highlighting that these stories are not only highly anticipated, but that they are also being embraced and celebrated by audiences everywhere.
Recognizable and iconic heroes including those who take up the mantle of Superman, Green Lantern, Robin, and a new Captain America all had comic stories exploring their characters’ queerness. Queer heroes in the pages of comics have made plenty of headlines this year alone. Most notably, this week’s release of “ Eternals,” which features the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first ever LGBTQ superhero, is a powerful step forward for the genre, one that will hopefully pave a new path for LGBTQ inclusion on the big screen. Now, in 2021, all that is finally beginning to change. While progress has been made in the books themselves, that content has often been minimized or entirely erased when it comes to adapting those stories for the big screen.
LGBTQ comic book and superhero fans have long been waiting to see themselves reflected in the pages and stories of the heroes they love.