Be Brave, Be Bold

Imagine the scene: you're sitting in the cinema, with a mate or two.

You chomp on popcorn and slurp at your drink.

You hope beyond hope that the annoying kids behind you will settle down after the trailers (they won't: they will kick your chair, climb over the seats, and talk loudly, but you can hope.)

The film starts. (The kids don't really settle down. Dammit.)

It's a superhero movie - a big one. The big one of the year (although, there are at least four films vying for that title.)

Before long, you're completely engrossed in the story. The bad guys are being bad. The good guys are being good. Stuff blows up. People get hurt, mainly by the good guys.

A dude approaches our hero. They've been fighting, side by side (in a battle which must've cost millions to film.)

The new dude got a bit banged-up in the fight, and title-hero is feeling moodily guilty.

"Hey man," new dude says. "It wasn't your fault."

"It was," title-hero replies, "but thanks..." he sighs heavily.

(The kids behind you are throwing popcorn. You really wish their parents would stop pretending not to notice.)

"Don't," new dude whispers...  and plants a kiss on title-hero's lips.



But the world doesn't end. The kids' parents don't scream. Everyone carries on with their lives.


Could this happen? I mean, really? Could this be a reality some day? (And hopefully someday soon.) Or are the studios too terrified to let one of their main properties be gay?

Because it really gets to something when we're more willing to shoe-horn in a generic blonde female (who deserves to have more character development than she's given, might I add, *cough* Civil War *cough*) than to let a leading man kiss another man in a blockbuster.

As things stand? I really can't see any of the money-making superheroes being permitted to be LGBTQ+ - on page or on screen.

But the amount of fanfiction (yes, I know, I rabbit on about fanfiction a lot, but I have an actual point here, promise) which shows main characters in same-sex relationships shows that there is an interest in change.

You can dismiss this as the wish of a minority of fans if you want - but the amount of fanfiction readers and writers that are out there writing and reading about same-sex relationships and LGBTQ+ issues runs into the millions.

Are the big studios really ready to dismiss the voices of change coming out of fandom? Are the publishers?



Big changes usually start with the comics.

Yes, we now have LGBTQ+ comic-book characters: Mystique, Deadpool, Iceman, Daken, Hulkling, Wiccan, Northstar, Miss America, Loki...

But even Mystique, Deadpool, Loki, and Iceman, are portrayed as straight on film (although there is the possibility of change for Deadpool).

And the others? Great characters, but not ones that even the casual fans will know, let alone the general public.

The lists of LGBT superheroes and villains (although a lot of these 'villains' could be considered anti-heroes,) on Wikipedia are woefully small. Even worse are their scarcity of notable figures.



Would it really be such a shock to have Captain America kiss Bucky Barnes?

...on page or on screen?

Maybe it would be. I'm sure the haters would come out in droves. There are some countries which would probably ban the film.

There would be uproar in several quarters. Free publicity, at the very least. (Moi? Cynical? Pshaw!)

But aren't superheroes supposed to be brave? Aren't they supposed to challenge injustices and support people being themselves (unless yourself wants to take over the world... I suppose.)

So, superheroes, it's time to be brave, and its time to be bold.

It doesn't have to be Cap and Bucky - they're just an example.

But it has to be one of the money-makers, one of the heroes with a following of their own.

It has to be someone on the level of Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Thor, et. al. (ooh, look at me with my fancy Latin abbreviations,) or it'll just be the publishers and studios hedging their bets with a less valuable property. That's a cop-out.

Let it be big, and let it be soon. Superheroes are supposed to lead the way forward. And this is the way forward - a brave and bold strike for equality, love, and a shared humanity.

Let's be brave. Let's be bold. Let's change the world.





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• How Superhero TV Shows Are Leading the Way for Diversity