Feige said the character would be featured in a movie that is ‘shooting right now.’
Author: Suzanne Nuyen, TEGNA
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get a little bit more diverse.
During an event on Saturday at the New York Film Academy, Marvel president and CEO Kevin Feige said a character in the LGBTQ community would appear in a Marvel film “very soon.”
A student asked Feige during the event if there were plans to add more LGBTQ charactesr to the MCU, specifically transgender characters.
“Yes, absolutely yes,” Feige responded. “And very soon. In a movie we’re shooting right now.”
It is unclear whether Feige was responding to the question of LGBTQ characters broadly or if he meant a transgender character specifically would be appearing in a Marvel film soon. Although multiple news outlets have reported a transgender will appear in an upcoming MCU film, Variety reports two sources close to the studio said Feige only meant to respond to the broader question of LGBTQ characters.
Marvel Studios is currently shooting “Eternals,” which will hit theaters in November. “Black Widow” is also set to premiere in May 2020, but has already wrapped up production. Feige has previously said at a D23 Expo that “Eternals” would feature a major gay character, but declined to reveal who it would be.
A gay character was teased before the release of “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, but receives backlash from fans when the character was revealed to be a minor cameo by co-director Joe Russo. Russo appeared as an unnamed character during a group therapy session led by Steve Rogers.
Many criticized Marvel Studios for misrepresenting the moment, as Russo’s character is in the film for approximately 10 seconds.
Feige responded to the backlash at the time, saying “that was never meant to be our first focused character. “That was just meant to be a matter of fact and a matter of life and a matter of truth.”
