Disney has underdelivered in its recent promise for better LGBT representation in its movies, but it looks as if the company will finally be stepping up with the frequently-delayed film. The queer relationship was finally confirmed in the film's Comic-Con@Home .
The New Mutants is the final film in 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie series. It is a departure from previous X-Men films, infusing its superhero plot with horror elements. The New Mutants tells the story of a group of young mutants grappling with their burgeoning abilities. The teenagers are each independently brought to a secret facility against their will, and will need to come together and accept their past experiences in order to survive. Wolfsbane and Mirage, two female characters, meet and fall in love at this facility.
Previous the film's lesbian relationship is front and center, not between two-dimensional secondary characters.
Disney has swung and missed in of LGBT representation in recent films like each movie failed GLAAD's "Vito Russo Test." This test states that an LGBT character should be vital enough that the removal of the character would have a significant effect on the film. Sadly, that's not the case with those films.
It does appear that The New Mutants is making its LGBT characters vital to the story's plot, however. During their Comic-Con , Williams highlighted the refreshing nature of her character's relationship:
"It was really wonderful to be able to see a relationship like this in a [...] world of superheroes, and it was just lovely to see these two fragile women who just protect one another and bring light out in each other."
A fully-formed and loving relationship between two characters of the same gender has never been done by Disney. The company is famously a family-friendly conservative corporation, often editing out any inkling of LGBT representation in areas of the world where those relationships are frowned upon or even illegal. But as Wolfsbane and Mirage are two essential characters to the plot, that won't be able to happen — it'll be a take it or leave it situation.
While Disney finally including proper LGBT representation in its films is a positive development, the move should have happened a long time ago. Trying to insert LGBT representation in films like the live action technically featured Disney's first openly gay character — only to fail spectacularly is embarrassing for Disney. The New Mutants director Josh Boone, along with Williams and Hunt, should absolutely be applauded for bringing a fully-formed LGBT relationship to life. Hopefully, the film is a sign that fans can expect more proper LGBT representation from Disney and it all its subsidiaries in future movies.
