She has also held the ‘ Captain Marvel‘ mantle – currently a position taken in the MCU by Brie Larson. Phyla joins the Guardians of the Galaxy in a 2008 comic book run, but sacrifices herself shortly after by becoming the ‘Avatar of Life’, to the save Moondragon from death. While that’s unfortunately not a possibility on-screen (she’s dead in the MCU), there’s a chance that the MCU will introduce the same character – named Moondragon, because gays have no chill – with a different backstory. In those comics, not only is she mega-powerful, but her partner is Drax the Destroyer‘s daughter (who is alive in that universe). Phyla, full name Phyla-Vell, is Marvel’s latest promise of decent queer representation in the MCU, should her comic book storyline be followed onscreen. To cut a long, alien-filled story short, the film ends with the Guardians disbanding, leaving Rocket as the leader of a different version of the team.

The gang’s third film and final outing as the ‘original’ group follows Peter Quill’s ( Chris Pratt) quest to save teammate Rocket the Racoon’s ( Bradley Cooper) life and face up to his horrific past. And while we don’t know just how essential drag superstar Shea Coulée’s mystery role is in the upcoming Ironheart series, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 quietly slid another queer contender onto the table. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever included a queer warrior, played by Michaela Coel, giving her lover a forehead kiss – even though it was cut from some releases.Īs evidenced, Marvel’s queer characters have often been treated as superfluous and expendable so much so, that they’re very easy to leave on the cutting room floor if needed.

The Eternals saw Phastos, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first openly gay superhero, complete with husband and child. While Marvel’s relationship with LGBTQ+ representation has not always been the most glowing example for other studios to follow over the years, they’ve at least tried.

Openly straight book series