People are dragging Avengers: Endgame for its lack of LGBTQ representation.
Avengers: Endgame has broken every record going since its release. The film, which came out on Friday (April 26), has already taken $1.2 billion dollars at the box office globally, making it the biggest worldwide debut of all time.
The film was also notable for introducing
Marvel's first openly gay character. As many noted, the inclusion was long overdue after some 20+ movies. But some fans are disappointed because the character's role was so small.
***Minor spoilers ahead ***
Avengers: Endgame First Gay Character / Joe Russo. Picture: Walt Disney Studios / Getty
As you know,
Avengers: Infinity War ended with Thanos snapping his finger and decimating half the population of the known universe and inspired a
million memes in the process.
In
Avengers: Endgame, a minor character who attends a support group is grappling with the aftermath of Thanos' snap. He discusses going on a recent date with another man in which they both got emotional over their snapped loved ones. The character is played by Joe Russo, one half of the film's Russo Brothers directing duo.
Speaking to
Deadline, Joe Russo expanded on the significance of the character. “Representation is really important. It was important to us as we did four of these films, we wanted a gay character somewhere in them. We felt it was important that one of us play him, to ensure the integrity and show it is so important to the filmmakers that one of us is representing that."
While this is the first gay character in the films, there have been a number of LGBTQ characters on the small screen, including Jeri Hogarth on
Jessica Jones and Joey Gutierrez on
Agents of SHIELD. Tessa Thompson also revealed that a scene was cut from
Thor: Ragnarok that referenced Valkyrie's bisexuality.
While the inclusion of the character is a positive step forward, many are calling out the film's creators for doing the bare minimum because they didn't give the character a name and only gave him a few lines.
While there was obviously a lot of story to fit into one film (poor
Katherine Langford's character didn't even appear in the film), some felt it was a wasted opportunity to introduce a new gay superhero into the franchise.
Others have been more supportive.
https://twitter.com/tymcsilva/statu...vengers-endgame-first-gay-character-backlash/
https://twitter.com/andy_samuelson/...vengers-endgame-first-gay-character-backlash/
As reported by Variety, Marvel producer Victoria Alonso has also called for a gay superhero. “I’m so passionate about this, I’ve got to tell you. Our entire success is based on people that are incredibly different. Why wouldn’t we? Why would we only want to be recognized by only one type of person? Our audience is global, is diverse, is inclusive. If we don’t do it that way for them, we will fail.”
There are rumours that the studio is looking for a queer lead character for upcoming production The Eternals, so lets hope that comes through for the LGBTQ representation that is so badly needed.