Many have rightfully criticized the increasingly crowded Marvel Cinematic Universe for its lack of diversity, particularly as its status as the foremost brand of mainstream cinema continues to solidify. With the Supreme Court's historic ruling in favor of marriage equality inspiring a nation on Friday, many Marvel fans approached the question with an even greater sense of urgency. So, when will the LGBT community finally be represented within the MCU?
Colliderspoke with Marvel's Kevin Feige at a recent Ant-Man press event, asking him directly about the future of LGBT representation in forthcoming MCU productions. According to Feige, there's definitely "no reason why that couldn’t happen in the next decade or sooner." Feige was quick to point out the MCU's generally strict adherence to the source material, meaning a reinvention of an existing character seems unlikely. However, Feige seems confident that diversity will continue to increase within the MCU in the years ahead.
The potential ten-year delay for such representation is frustrating, though the promise of any representation at all is a small step in the right direction. As previously stated, Marvel Studios is currently experiencing an unprecedented cinematic dominance. Thus, it would be refreshing to see such a widely acknowledged platform used for the furthering of diversity.
