Will Disney ever have true LGBTQ representation in their movies?

[AnakinFlair]

I should preface this by saying I'm a straight white male. But while this topic isn't personal for me, it is starting to anger me.

Kevin Feige just announced that there will be a Trans character in an upcoming Marvel movie, which should be a big deal. But then I got to thinking- every single time they announce something like this, it always ends up being, well, nothing.

They announced a gay character in Endgame, and it ended up being one of the Russo's having a 30 second cameo talking about a date he had at the very beginning of the movie.

They announced a gay character in Star Wars, and it's a blink-and-you-miss-it kiss in the ending montage.

They've announced a gay character who is married with a family in the Eternals, but five will get you ten it will probably be something minor that they can cut out for China.

Looking at the comments on Twitter, it looks like everybody is expecting the same thing here. I feel that it's getting to the point where it will start causing serious backlash against Disney and Marvel if they keep pulling stunts like this. And Gay and Trans superheroes can work, all you have to do is look at the CW. Sara Lance (Bi), Dreamer (Trans), Batwoman (Lesbian), Alex Danvers (Lesbian), Curtis Holt (Gay).. the list goes on.

I guess what I'm asking is will Marvel and/or Disney ever have the guts to put a Gay/Trans character front and center in a major motion picture? And I'm not counting Captain Marvel- it's implied, but not stated.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

When it becomes so natural and common that everybody else does it, then they will.

Disney will not be the first to blaze the trail. That's for sure.

[U.N. Owen]

There are nations where LGBT+ representation on screen is illegal. At best, it will be censored. At worst, the movie will be banned from that nation. Unless Disney, a company, wants to risk not making money off a country's audience, I don't think representation is going to be a starring role unless severely downplayed.

Take Russia for example. They tried to make Ruby in Steven Universe sound more ambiguous and male, even using male pronouns at one point. When they had an episode with a lesbian kiss and wedding, they outright pulled the damn episode.

[wjowski]

Don't depend on megacorps for social progress.

[AnakinFlair]

Don't depend on megacorps for social progress.

True enough. But then again, DC doesn't seem to have a problem doing it. But I suppose it's less risky to do it on a TV show than in a movie.

[WebLurker]

Disney-owned companies have produced media with LGBTQ characters in notable roles. The Marvel's Star Wars comics have made extensive use of their original character Doctor Aphra, who's very clearly depicted as being lesbian*, from us meeting an ex-girlfriend to her being shown having slept with another woman (we just see the morning after). Not sure how that relates or doesn't relate to the mainstream Disney movies. Allegedly, the upcoming Jungle Cruise movie has a gay character, so we'll see how that turns out.

*Aphra's never specifically identified her orientation in-universe, although her creator, Kieron Gillen, has noted in an interview that he thought of her as being lesbian and wrote all his stories with that mindset. (Some fans have thought that she was flirting with Vader in the original Darth Vader comics, but Gillen has noted that that was not his intent. I know myself and some other people wondered if she might've had a spark with Luke Skywalker in the Screaming Citadel miniseries, but that's based on some pretty inconclusive story beats -- Aphra cleans up nicely for a formal event which kinda flusters Luke a bit and she seems unusually upset after Luke severs ties with her at the end -- and Gillen did write this story, too).

[Midvillian1322]

True enough. But then again, DC doesn't seem to have a problem doing it. But I suppose it's less risky to do it on a TV show than in a movie.

Well if its TV shows they have Gay characters in The Runaways.

I thought Valkryie was that gay character they talked about before Endgame. She didnt do anything sexual but I coulda swore they confirmed she is gay. And Love and Thundrr was gonna be about her finding a queen.

[mburns]

Looking at the comments on Twitter, it looks like everybody is expecting the same thing here. I feel that it's getting to the point where it will start causing serious backlash against Disney and Marvel if they keep pulling stunts like this. And Gay and Trans superheroes can work, all you have to do is look at the CW. Sara Lance (Bi), Dreamer (Trans), Batwoman (Lesbian), Alex Danvers (Lesbian), Curtis Holt (Gay).. the list goes on.

I guess what I'm asking is will Marvel and/or Disney ever have the guts to put a Gay/Trans character front and center in a major motion picture? And I'm not counting Captain Marvel- it's implied, but not stated.

Have you seen the ratings for those CW shows. They are watched by 2 to 3 million people at most. If you are spending $150 to $200 million on a movie before even advertising expenses you will need a lot more people to see your movies than that to make money. So it will be a stupid risk to do so unless someone else wants to go first to show that it will work in movies. Having said that they should cease making a big deal out of all this or just avoid it completely if all they are doing is putting in these throw away scenes.

[lowfyr]

Don't they get in trouble with groups like one million moms for "promoting the gay lifestyle" and "corrupting the children"? I see articles regulary about stuff like that. Last example was for Toy Story 4 I think.

If the Aphra series gets a go, that will get Disney on the way the comics are already taking.
Regarding DC, they have the CW yes but the question was "will Marvel and/or Disney ever have the guts to put a Gay/Trans character front and center in a major motion picture?"
And DC is not really any better there. Wonder Woman can be assumed to be bi, but they do not really go all the way. Comics are more brave in that regard and even them get flak for it.

Regarding Captain Marvel, they have not really shown one way or another. And remembering the stupid stuff written and videos made about the movie it would have made that even worse.

[ChrisIII]

I haven't seen the live-action Beauty and the Beast but didn't they try this with Lefou? Although he's kind of one of the bad guys....

[Immortal Weapon]

As long as their movies are made to appeal to a global market, no.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Nope, don't see that happening, not when The Mouse wants their films to play abroad, including countries (China, Russia for starters) where homophobia is very much in force.

[Kieran_Frost]

I guess what I'm asking is will Marvel and/or Disney ever have the guts to put a Gay/Trans character front and center in a major motion picture? And I'm not counting Captain Marvel- it's implied, but not stated.

Simple answer: No. Disney (and therefore Marvel) has no interest in supporting LGBT+ characters or actors... because it won't play well in homophobic countries like Russia and China (and those are huge money markets -- I assume it doesn't play well in a lot of Africa and the Middle East, but those aren't the big money markets Disney would care about). The option is simple: principles or money. Disney chooses money. They are no friend to LGBT+ people.

[BeastieRunner]

Disney just announced one of the Eternal's leads has being gay and married to his husband.

Bi-racial, too.

[Kieran_Frost]

Disney just announced one of the Eternal's leads has being gay and married to his husband.

The film's not out yet, lets see how the "announcement" plays out come the crunch... Valkyrie was "announced" and we all know how they went. Cut, cut, edit, cut.

Uh, Nico and Karolina were made a couple in the Rainbow Rowell revival of the series in 2017, the same year the TV show launched. Don't know where the idea came from but it wasn't from the original runs (I know, I've got the books).

??? The Nico/Karolina thing was in the original comic series. Karolina kissed Nico on the rooftops in the snow (I don't know which issue). They didn't become a couple, but the complexity of their feelings and the idea of a romance didn't come from the show, it was in the comics long, long ago.

Disney will release one or two minor films/shows with gay characters to placate the identity politics crowd but will otherwise not give a damn.

Well... I like to think that people unhappy at Disney ignoring the existence of gay characters in their film series spreads wider than "identity politics". Anyone with a decent conscience should care that gay people are not welcome in major Disney films.