Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has announced that the billion dollar superhero movie machine is introducing a transgender person and a gay superhero in its upcoming properties.
Feige announced the addition of the trans and gay characters to the Marvel cinematic universe at a Q&A at the New York Film Academy this week.
During the Q&A, Feige was asked about plans to include a trans character, and the Marvel chief was enthusiastic over the idea.
“Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Very soon. In a movie we’re shooting right now,” Feige exclaimed.
Marvel has not revealed just what character in what movie will be its first trans character. But a group of next-generation heroes are already either before cameras or gearing up for filming.
The flicks in the works include Black Widow, Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Black Panther 2, Blade and Tom Holland’s third Spider-Man film.
But comics industry watchers assume that the most likely candidates for that trans character are The Eternals and the martial arts flick Shang-Chi.
Indeed, The Eternals has already been noted for including a new gay superhero. Last year, Feige announced that the movie would include a gay character who is married. “He’s married. He’s got a family. And that is just part of who he is,” Fiege said at the D23 Expo.
Marvel took criticism for claiming it had introduced a gay character in its blockbuster The Avengers: End Game, but when the film hit theaters, LGBTQ advocates were disappointed that the character was not one of the heroes or even an integral character, but instead was just a character who appeared in one scene.
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