Marvel Studios MCU's efforts to increase LGBTQ+ representation onscreen are evident, but there's still a long way to go. The Pride Collection indeed showcases some MCU films and series with queer characters. What amounts to queer representation, however, appears to be merely visibility. Marvel Studios executive, Victoria Alonso emphasised the studio's commitment to empowering of the LGBTQ+ community with more representation onscreen. But, only including queer characters onscreen without telling meaningful queer stories is not sufficient representation. While the increased visibility is appreciated, it so far amounts to tokenism and queerbaiting.
The lack of meaningful queer representation onscreen can lead of the community to feel invalidated and invisible. After enduring decades of queer-coded antagonists and Disney's own LGBTQ+ mistakes, positive queer representation onscreen has begun to tell authentic and affirmative stories. Unfortunately, those stories largely relegate queer storylines to minor characters. One notable exception in the Pride Collection is The Owl House featuring a bisexual lead character. Its shocking cancelation, according to producer Dana Terrace, was because the series "did not fit the Disney brand." This revelation potentially puts Marvel Studios' efforts to increase and improve queer representation onscreen at odds with the Disney brand.
Marvel Promised Representation Would Improve Over Phase 4
Phase 4 has "improved" queer representation only by increasing the number of queer characters onscreen. All of the queer characters introduced in the MCU have played a minor role except for Loki. Loki's failed LGBTQ+ story aside, this visibility is inclusive and conveys Marvel Studios' efforts to accurately represent the characters from the source material with respect to their identities. Ignoring the reality and impact of these queer characters' identities on their lives with compelling storylines also conveys Marvel Studios' storytelling priorities. Being included is the first step on the road toward meaningful representation. But after more than a dozen Phase 4 films and television series, visibility is about as meaningful as a vase with no flowers.
Queer representation onscreen in the MCU has been a series of empty promises and doesn't appear to be a priority. A character's identity should have an impact on their story. It is part of the reason they endeavor to overcome their conflict and further affirm who they are. For authenticity, queer representation should necessitate meaningful queer stories and not merely visibility. If every confirmed LGBTQ+ character identity can be removed from the character and the story still holds, then it is not an authentic queer story reflecting real concerns unique to those characters.
Disney+ Pride Proves Marvel Studios Has Failed
This lack of authenticity is why queer representation has not improved in the MCU. The series Loki, for instance, is not in the Pride Collection. Loki's fleeting ittance of his genderfluidity is welcomed but superfluous to his story. The moment leads to queerbaiting and further paints Marvel Studios' promise to improve queer representation onscreen as disingenuous. It can be just as damaging for queer characters to be included onscreen and not have their stories told authentically as it is to not be included. Both are silencing.
A common solution to this problem has been onscreen queer romance, though it's becoming a cliché for queer storytelling. As wonderful and distinct as queer romance is, it is not the entirety of what encapsulates queer life or important LGBTQ+ representation in storytelling. It is an important facet that deserves screen time. However, going beyond romance and "coming out" stories to address genuine issues for queer characters should be Marvel Studios' next step. Judging by the Disney+ Pride Collection, Marvel Studios has thus far failed to deliver on their promise to improve queer representation onscreen.
Most Marvel Pride Films & Shows Are Nothing To Do With Marvel Studios
Of the few Marvel narrative projects that are included in the collection, only Eternals is a Marvel Studios project. Eternals features a brief insight into queer romance shared between the Eternal Phastos and his husband. It's a positive familial moment that normalizes same-sex relationships onscreen, but it falls flat to inspire or empower because it fails to address any conflict stemming from Eternals' Phastos' LGBTQ+ identity. Remove the fact Phastos is gay and nothing about the story would change because his queerness has no impact on the story. Therefore, the fact that Phastos is gay resigns itself to tokenism disguised as diversity.
While some visibility is better than no visibility, such meaningless or tokenism inclusion of queer characters shifts the message from being heard and seen to just being seen, albeit, briefly. Disney's brand of storytelling has always been more conservative with the widest appealing themes and characters. Marvel Studios' efforts to respect the comics and reflect the current generation doesn't exactly align with Disney's more traditional brand when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation onscreen.
The MCU Needs To Improve Its Diversity
The irony of Marvel Studios possibly being censored or restricted by their parent company, Disney, from fully telling authentic, meaningful queer stories with leading queer characters is surreal. Marvel Studios can fix Disney's LGBTQ+ problem. Marvel Comics has historically often made strides to address social issues with narratives that reflected reality, and with inspiring heroes that represented those people most affected. If Marvel Studios intends to remain faithful to the comics, the MCU needs to improve LGBTQ+ representation by telling meaningful queer stories that speak to the issues pertinent to the community.
Just as Falcon and the Winter Soldier addressed the reality of racism in America, queer superhero stories can do something similar. It's not enough just to be seen. Meaningful representation inspires and empowers when the community to be represented is given a voice to address and make aware of the reality of the issues that threaten their lives and identity. To ignore this onscreen for queer characters is to minimize those issues for queer people in real life.
Diversity in storytelling is not only about who is included in the stories and thus, the conversations, but also what those stories and conversations are about. Other than the MCU's LGBTQ+ romances, queer characters without queer stories is insufficient representation that makes it difficult to empower, inspire comion, or generate awareness around the real issues negatively impacting the queer community. Such empty storytelling in the MCU effectively erases the truth of these queer characters' struggles with their identity. It ultimately risks further marginalizing and underrepresenting the LGBTQ+ community who deserve much more love and respect, to be both heard and seen, onscreen as well as off.
