It's Time For a Live Action Gay Superhero

On first impression, you might not expect me to be much of a fan of superheroes and their high budgeted films however, those who know me fairly well know that I actually love superheroes – especially the Marvel movies! I’ve watched almost every Marvel project at least once by now and I’m still not tired of the action! Comics books on the other hand aren’t really my thing, so I’m not super familiar with the backgrounds of characters outside of their respective movies or tv shows.

The age old question posed to any fan of superheroes is: do you prefer Marvel or DC? Well, the thing is, I used to be a huge fan of DC – in fact, I remember dressing up as Batman for Halloween one year and absolutely loving it! (The costume came with a grappling hook that I used to pretend to swing around my house like the Dark Knight himself). And how could I ignore Superman? For most of my young life I dreamed of being as powerful and heroic as him, and now I dream about a life where he’s my husband… A bit of a 180.

I was a huge fan of The Dark Knight Trilogy – they really set the bar for mature superhero movies. And the Wonder Woman movies have also been amazing, however, somewhere along the line, they lost me and I simply stopped caring about anything DC related. Once Marvel began assembling The Avengers together, I got sucked in and knew I’d be following the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the rest of my life!

My real joy in watching Marvel movies comes from dissecting and analyzing every detail to decode the connections and easter eggs hidden so well throughout every project. In my opinion, Marvel is the best at seamlessly incorporating several layers of detail into a movie or tv show – come on, DC.

There are many Marvel heroes I enjoy watching; my current favorite is Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch) because I feel very emotionally connected to her. I’m a Pisces and although she technically might not be a Piscean, she sure does act like one! Her sensitivity, intense emotions, and deep intuition are very much me. I’m pretty sure that if I was in either DC or Marvel’s universe, I would be a character whose power becomes incredibly potent and unstable as I lose control over my emotions. However, I probably would have destroyed this universe and most other universes by now if that was the case so – let’s just pray that superpowers stay fictional…

My other Marvel favorite is, of course, Captain America (Steve Rogers) – this GIF is all the explanation you need:

I love to watch superheroes on the big screen, but after looking into the comics, I can’t help but notice a disparity between the two mediums. In the comics, either DC or Marvel, there’s a wide representation of sexualities thereby making the comic book stories more inclusive and relatable to the world. If you’ve watched any films from either franchise then you know that there is little to no representation of these diverse identities. What’s more frustrating is that the movies and tv shows include some of the characters who, in the comics, are LGBTQ+ but their sexualities are either completely omitted from the story or they’re kept straight.

When Captain Marvel was released in 2019, there was a lot of buzz about the possibility of Brie Larson’s character (Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel) having a romantic relationship with her close friend in the movie, however, according to the directors there is no such relationship in this film (Which is strange because I swear you could feel the chemistry!). Ultimately the directors have said that a romance, either straight or not, didn’t fit with the story they wanted to tell and therefore left it out.

It was definitely a big let down, especially after reading about Marvel’s commitment to be more inclusive in their film and television adaptations. Unfortunately all we’ve seen from them since then was that scene in Avengers: Endgame with the “grieving guy” talking about his husband after the snap – (A lot of hype for something not very substantial).

However, I’ve recently become more hopeful for the future of the MCU as I continue to learn about new characters who are being introduced during WandaVision. If you haven’t been keeping up with the show, I’ll try not to spoil too much for you (But you should really watch it. Like really watch it). Basically, Wanda’s kids, Billy and Tommy, are magically introduced to us and, so long as they stick around, it’s possible they’ll take on the roles of Wiccan and Speed, respectively – which would be awesome!

In the comics, Wiccan learns that he is gay early in life and Speed is bisexual! So, I think it’s possible these two might be the first live action gay superheroes in the MCU which is doubly exciting not only because of representation, but because it’ll be an opportunity for Marvel to show characters coming to terms with their abilities as well as their sexuality as the twins grow up. And this would also be a step in the right direction towards giving LGBTQ+ relationships the same importance as heterosexual relationships on the big screen. (Read this article to learn more about the theories supporting these superpowered twins as Marvel’s possible first openly LGBTQ+ characters).

I first learned about Wiccan’s sexuality while I was watching a WandaVision theory video about a week ago and ever since I’ve had my mind set on playing the adult version of him! I mean, black hair, brown eyes, magician, gay – it’s right up my alley. And then I’d get to live out my fantasy of being a superhero and falling in love with one (Wiccan is married to another hero, Hulkling, in the comics, in case you don’t know) – a dream come true!

I’ve identified with superhero movies for a long time because I always wished and dreamed about being powerful beyond measure and being able to do the unthinkable. Now I realize that there’s another aspect of most heroes I related to - their secret identities. As a gay man (no matter how flamboyant), I’ve spent the majority of my life hiding away the real me, my real interests, and the people I truly love. I can’t imagine how powerful it would have been, as a kid, to watch a superhero come to terms with their sexuality – I can’t imagine how powerful that would be now, as an adult!

Maybe you think it’s inappropriate or too mature or something that a kid wouldn’t care about, but I know I thought about it a lot when I was younger and those thoughts can be really isolating when you think you’re the only one having them. Representation is a major way movies, tv shows, etc., can help others feel less alone.

So, hopefully Marvel (and DC) have some thoughtful ways of incorporating some of the many LGBTQ+ identities of their characters in the near future! I know I will be very ready once they do.

But of course I’m not going to grumble about what and who these franchises should include without giving my own recommendations - here’s my list of LGBTQ+ superheroes (+ one antiheroine) that should be included in live action Marvel or DC projects:

• Northstar – the first Marvel superhero to come out and one half of the first same-sex marriage in superhero comics!

• Wiccan and Hulkling – the first same-sex superhero couple to get married in Marvel comic books.

• America Chavez – she’s bisexual and the first LGBTQ+ Latinx superhero with her own solo comic.

• Midnighter and Apollo – another interesting gay couple, Midnighter and Apollo were originally created as analogues to Batman and Superman and were one of the most visible gay superhero couples in the late 90s and early 00s.

• Harley Quinn – she’s bisexual and dating Poison Ivy in the comics; I think it would be interesting to see that dynamic play out.

• Iceman – in the comics, there’s a version of Iceman that’s outed by Jean Grey and I think it would be interesting to see how producers and writers deal with an intense situation like that.

We may be mere mortals, but we have the power to influence the future and help everyone see a little bit of themselves represented in every tv show and movie – and that’s pretty special.

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