LGBT+ Marvel Characters Discussion

[Drops Of Venus]

There was a rumour on 4chan that got posted on reddit and has now resurfaced on reddit after comic-con,claiming some info about The Eternals. It said that Marvel was considering casting a gender-bent Sersi so that the central romance with Ikaris would be a gay romance. Some people were saying that might be true and that the other gender-bending going on in the cast is to balance Sersi being male. I remain highly skeptical though, a central gay romance in the film sounds way too good to be true. Marvel doesn't have the courage for that.

I saw that rumor, but I'm not sure if I'm buying it. I know I just joked about male Sersi like one page ago, but I don't actually see them doing it. But in case they do, I am sure he would be diverse in some way to make up for the potential backlash due to the erasure of a female character. If not by being gay, then by being POC or something else.

I also saw that the guy who broke the news that Marvel was looking to cast a gay character in The Eternals said he thinks the gay character has already been revealed but he didn't say who he thinks it is.

Oh, I was actually just looking up those first reports we got about a gay character, to see if something fits with what we know so far. I think the first report that I saw came from That Hashtag Show, and it's interesting to look at the description they provided of the character, because it doesn't appear to be the same description we got for the asian male in his 20s. This first report actually describes they were looking for someone of any ethnicity aged 30-49 who physically looked like a superhero. Is it possible that they were actually looking for TWO gay guys, after all? And maybe the older guy was supposed to be the lead, while the other one was his love interest or something? Gosh, I'm even more excited now.

Anyway, if the guy from the website is right about the gay male lead being announced already, I think either Ikaris or Gilgamesh fit the description of the first casting call the most.

Wasn't the original rumor that Conrad Ricamora was playing Eros? Even if the casting fell through, I feel like that hints fairly well at Eros being in the film.

The report I read only said he was being considered for the role of an asian gay character, nothing more than that.

[Shreene]

How many LGBT villains can you name?

[MasterOfMagnetism]

I saw that rumor, but I'm not sure if I'm buying it. I know I just joked about male Sersi like one page ago, but I don't actually see them doing it. But in case they do, I am sure he would be diverse in some way to make up for the potential backlash due to the erasure of a female character. If not by being gay, then by being POC or something else.



Oh, I was actually just looking up those first reports we got about a gay character, to see if something fits with what we know so far. I think the first report that I saw came from That Hashtag Show, and it's interesting to look at the description they provided of the character, because it doesn't appear to be the same description we got for the asian male in his 20s. This first report actually describes they were looking for someone of any ethnicity aged 30-49 who physically looked like a superhero. Is it possible that they were actually looking for TWO gay guys, after all? And maybe the older guy was supposed to be the lead, while the other one was his love interest or something? Gosh, I'm even more excited now.

Anyway, if the guy from the website is right about the gay male lead being announced already, I think either Ikaris or Gilgamesh fit the description of the first casting call the most.



The report I read only said he was being considered for the role of an asian gay character, nothing more than that.

I definitely don't buy that rumour as well.

The thing that gets me is that the original report said that Marvel was looking for an openly gay actor to play the gay character. This is why some people are assuming that Ikaris will be gay because he's played by Richard Madden who is heavily rumoured to be dating another man right now and when questioned about the rumour he refused to confirm or deny it publicly. But I'm not convinced that Ikaris will be gay because he was mentioned in the early casting reports as being separate from the gay character.

The guy who first reported that there was going to be a gay character in The Eternals said that it's possible that not every character that was mentioned on the original casting list would necessarily make the cut into getting in the film. He also said that he believes there will be more casting announcements for the movie, particularly for Sersi and Druig as the main villain, and that the gay character was already revealed at comic-con. But none of that has been officially confirmed.

I'm also still wondering if Phastos is the gay character. The gay character was called "James" at one point during the casting process as a stand-in name to hide the identity of the character, similar to how Sprite was being called "Piper". The character of Phastos was never mentioned in the original casting reports but the "James" character was referred to as "intellectual and emotional" which fits with Phastos and how the actor playing him, Brian Tyree Henry, has described the character. The only thing is that Brian is not openly gay, although I'm starting to wonder if Marvel didn't follow through on hiring an openly gay man to play the character.

Overall I'm still really confused and not sure what to believe, and I'm not really looking forward to possibly waiting another month until the next convention to find out who the gay character might be. Kinda wish Marvel would just confirm who it is or for someone to leak the info. Anyway, we'll have to wait and see.

[skyvolt2000]

]The more I see about Eternals, the more I feel like this is going to be the movie that flops (yeah, yeah, I know). I've already seen people starting to point at it and call it the diversity hire cast, and talking about virtue signalling and the rest. [/B]That isn't helped by the cast all actively making any story a total back issue to how happy they are with the diverse cast. Diversity is important, and we definitely need more of it in the MCU...but it also should be second to the story of the film, not THE story of the film.

Like Holt said you had people make it their MISSION to go after certain films.

It's a Marvel film-you already got folks interested. It's another odd ball property like GOTG-more interest. They have made low sellers and no sellers like Rocket Raccoon POPULAR. The fact the cast is diverse is a BONUS.

Yes the cast is talking about the diversity because that is ALL they can talk about until the film comes out or we see trailers and footage.

The story will take first place once they get moving on.

Now when you look at those who throw fits-they HARP on the diversity and as we saw with Cap Marvel-ANYTHING they can find to bash that film and encourage more outrage. Like Nick Fury doing dishes or Carol doing her OWN version of the Terminator Motorcycle scene.

[Dermie]

How many LGBT villains can you name?

Loki
Daken
Machinesmith
Electro (was implied to be at least bi-curious)
Gypsy Moth/Skein
Swordsman III (Andreas Strucker)
Joystick
Batwing
David Ferrari (SHIELD agent driven insane by failed super-soldier experiment; and brother of Captain America's ex-girlfriend)
Glorianna (an Inhuman from Peter David's modern SPIDER-MAN 2099 series)
Mephisto

There's almost certainly more, but those were the ones who came immediately to mind.

[MasterOfMagnetism]

Loki
Daken
Machinesmith
Electro (was implied to be at least bi-curious)
Gypsy Moth/Skein
Swordsman III (Andreas Strucker)
Joystick
Batwing
David Ferrari (SHIELD agent driven insane by failed super-soldier experiment; and brother of Captain America's ex-girlfriend)
Glorianna (an Inhuman from Peter David's modern SPIDER-MAN 2099 series)
Mephisto

There's almost certainly more, but those were the ones who came immediately to mind.

Mystique & Destiny.

[Snoop Dogg]

Count Dracula.

[Shreene]

Loki
Daken
Machinesmith
Electro (was implied to be at least bi-curious)
Gypsy Moth/Skein
Swordsman III (Andreas Strucker)
Joystick
Batwing
David Ferrari (SHIELD agent driven insane by failed super-soldier experiment; and brother of Captain America's ex-girlfriend)
Glorianna (an Inhuman from Peter David's modern SPIDER-MAN 2099 series)
Mephisto

There's almost certainly more, but those were the ones who came immediately to mind.

Thank you for the help.

[Drops Of Venus]

I definitely don't buy that rumour as well.

The thing that gets me is that the original report said that Marvel was looking for an openly gay actor to play the gay character. This is why some people are assuming that Ikaris will be gay because he's played by Richard Madden who is heavily rumoured to be dating another man right now and when questioned about the rumour he refused to confirm or deny it publicly. But I'm not convinced that Ikaris will be gay because he was mentioned in the early casting reports as being separate from the gay character.

The guy who first reported that there was going to be a gay character in The Eternals said that it's possible that not every character that was mentioned on the original casting list would necessarily make the cut into getting in the film. He also said that he believes there will be more casting announcements for the movie, particularly for Sersi and Druig as the main villain, and that the gay character was already revealed at comic-con. But none of that has been officially confirmed.

I'm also still wondering if Phastos is the gay character. The gay character was called "James" at one point during the casting process as a stand-in name to hide the identity of the character, similar to how Sprite was being called "Piper". The character of Phastos was never mentioned in the original casting reports but the "James" character was referred to as "intellectual and emotional" which fits with Phastos and how the actor playing him, Brian Tyree Henry, has described the character. The only thing is that Brian is not openly gay, although I'm starting to wonder if Marvel didn't follow through on hiring an openly gay man to play the character.

Overall I'm still really confused and not sure what to believe, and I'm not really looking forward to possibly waiting another month until the next convention to find out who the gay character might be. Kinda wish Marvel would just confirm who it is or for someone to leak the info. Anyway, we'll have to wait and see.

Well, the first casting call actually said they would PREFER if the role went to an openly gay actor, so it's possible that it ended up going to a straight guy. The second casting call, for the James character, was the one that said they were specifically looking for openly gay/bi actors. I still think those two castings were for different people and the first one was for one of the leads (who's been possibly revealed already), while the James character was a supporting role/love interest that might be announced yet. On the other hand, casting decisions can change too, so that makes it even more complicated to figure out. For instance, the original casting for Makkari stated they were looking for male actors, but they ended up casting a female. Who knows what else might've changed from those early reports until now?

Anyway, food for thought: Angela Jolie is an openly bisexual woman, something I hadn't thought about until now. If Marvel really liked the idea of LGBTQ actors playing LGBTQ characters, maybe we could have something with Thena too.

Loki
Daken
Machinesmith
Electro (was implied to be at least bi-curious)
Gypsy Moth/Skein
Swordsman III (Andreas Strucker)
Joystick
Batwing
David Ferrari (SHIELD agent driven insane by failed super-soldier experiment; and brother of Captain America's ex-girlfriend)
Glorianna (an Inhuman from Peter David's modern SPIDER-MAN 2099 series)
Mephisto

There's almost certainly more, but those were the ones who came immediately to mind.

Mephisto? That's news to me.

[Anduinel]

spoilers:

Lisa shows up in Valkyrie #1, and it sounds like she's going to be a regular part of the supporting cast. And Jane's being told to track down Annabelle Riggs as well.

end of spoilers

[MasterOfMagnetism]

Well, the first casting call actually said they would PREFER if the role went to an openly gay actor, so it's possible that it ended up going to a straight guy. The second casting call, for the James character, was the one that said they were specifically looking for openly gay/bi actors. I still think those two castings were for different people and the first one was for one of the leads (who's been possibly revealed already), while the James character was a supporting role/love interest that might be announced yet. On the other hand, casting decisions can change too, so that makes it even more complicated to figure out. For instance, the original casting for Makkari stated they were looking for male actors, but they ended up casting a female. Who knows what else might've changed from those early reports until now?

These are all very good points. Personally I would definitely prefer if an openly gay actor(s) portrayed the gay character(s), but they might not have cast an openly gay actor in the end.

[Dermie]

Mystique & Destiny.

Oh my lord. I can't believe I forgot them. Total facepalm moment there. Thanks.

Count Dracula.

Right; he was outed as bi just a few months ago.

Mephisto? That's news to me.

Yeah, he is bi/pan. There was a SILVER SURFER storyline in the 90s where Mephisto tries various attempts to manipulate Silver Surfer into turning his soul over to him. The attempt that proved successful was posing as Nova (Frankie Raye) and seducing him. In the following issue (when Mephisto was back to his regular, male form) he said "You exist for my amusement… to do and be anything I desire… take any shape… serve any purpose. It is mine to deem you slave… or lover… or nothing.”

There have been a few other references here and there over the years, but that one was the most blatant.

[MasterOfMagnetism]

Oh my lord. I can't believe I forgot them. Total facepalm moment there. Thanks.

Lol, no problem. Mystique is always who I think of first when it comes to LGBT villains.

[twincast]

I am still about as interested in and surprised by an Eternals movie as I was regarding the Inhumans movie, which is to say, not much and a lot, respectively. Still, I'm happy we're finally getting queer characters and I've watched every "full" (and almost every "kind of") MCU work so far, so I might as well add this one to my to-watch list.

But speaking of which, while the Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and What if...? series on Disney+ have a lot of potential going for them, my interest in the Hawkeye series is almost entirely based on it introducing Kate Bishop to the MCU, and pretty much the same can be said about WandaVision - if it doesn't have Billy and Tommy, what's the point?

[NexusTenebrare]

I am still about as interested in and surprised by an Eternals movie as I was regarding the Inhumans movie, which is to say, not much and a lot, respectively. Still, I'm happy we're finally getting queer characters and I've watched every "full" (and almost every "kind of") MCU work so far, so I might as well add this one to my to-watch list.

But speaking of which, while the Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and What if...? series on Disney+ have a lot of potential going for them, my interest in the Hawkeye series is almost entirely based on it introducing Kate Bishop to the MCU, and pretty much the same can be said about WandaVision - if it doesn't have Billy and Tommy, what's the point?

I mean, Wanda and Vision are two of the best and most interesting characters in the MCU. So that's the point.