Tag Archives: x-men

Would There Ever be a Queer Superhero in a Marvel Film? Studios President Says Maybe

Compared to DC Comics, Marvel are a little behind when it comes to represent queer characters in their comics.

However, speaking at an Ant-Man press day, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gave a vague promise to when a LGBTI character will appear in a superhero film.

He said he ‘would think’ a LGBTI character will appear ‘in the next decade or sooner’.

Well in the drawing board going up to 2019 it remains to be seen. The comics always make the path that we get to have the fun of saying, ” Yeah let’s choose this way or let’s choose this way’, and I think there are a lot of cool things happening in the comics now that – it’s usually a five to 10-year cycle between when something happens in the comics and when we can do it in the movie, sometimes a little less, but Civil War is certainly about the ten-year mark. Winter Soldier, I think, was around that time.

So we always look at stuff that’s happening in the comics and go, “Where could we do that?” Sometimes it’s sooner, but there’s no reason why that couldn’t happen in the next decade or sooner.”

While the X-Men films are largely seen as a parable to the LGBTI community, this was dropped when Bryan Singer stopped directing them. Marvel has yet to screen a blockbuster led by a female superhero.

Also read: Gay Women In Comics, and There are Plenty

However, for inspiration, they could look at Mystique – a bisexual X-Men villain, or the recent outing of Iceman in the comics.

The Young Avengers’ Wiccan and Hulkling are also a popular same-sex couple with the fans.

Original X-Men Member Comes Out

A leaked comic has confirmed that one of the original five X-Men, will come out as gay.

Due to be released this week, All-New X-Men #40, confirms that Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, is gay

The comic series centres around the five young original X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Jean Grey) who time travel to the present day and fight alongside new members of the team.

In the new issue, Iceman makes a comment about their female professor’s “incredible hotness”, and gets pulled aside by psychic Jean Grey.

She questions why he says things like that – and reveals the she knows he is gay.

They discuss the fact that they have met Iceman’s older self, who is not gay, and Bobby suggests:

Maybe he couldn’t handle being a mutant and gay in a society that had issues with both? And one is easier to ‘put away’ than the other?”

He points out that his older self dated character Kitty Pryde, who was played by Ellen Page in two of the live-action X-Men films, and Jean reminds him:

And now she no longer lives on planet Earth.”

The X-Men franchise has often dealt with issues of discrimination and oppression, with many similarities to LGBT rights struggles.

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Anna Paquin Would Return as X-Men’s Rogue on One Condition

Rogue has long been my favourite character in the X-Men series, but the truth is that the mutant heroine hasn’t really had the opportunity to do very much on the big screen.

Played by bisexual actress Anna Paquin in the original X-Men trilogy and a brief cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past, she got plenty of chances to mope and be a disgruntled teen with unfortunate powers, but she didn’t really ever get into the action and fight the forces of evil.

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Rogue had always had super strength and the ability to fly in the comics after permanently stealing Ms Marvel’s powers.

Evidently, Paquin herself has noticed this, and as a result her one requirement for ever getting back into the X-Men franchise is that she has to be allowed to fly and kick ass.

X-Men: Apocalypse will be the next instalment of the series. It will arrive in 2016.

Gay Women In Comics, and There are Plenty

Here are some of my favourite lesbians and bisexual women Super heros.  The characters cover the full range of heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and supporting cast.


tank-girlTank Girl

Real name: Rebecca Buck
Comic: Tank Girl

My first comic crush, Tank Girl is a tank driving, bounty hunted bad-ass. Her character is well-known for her lack of manners, bad behaviour, and carelessness with the hearts of her lovers. Besides this, she can usually fight her way out of any pickle.


MystiqueMystique

Real name: Raven Darkholme
Comic: X-Men

Mystique’s first made an appearance X-men universe in the comic Ms. Marvel. One of the most famous X-villains, Raven had a lifelong on-again, off-again affair with fellow mutant Destiny. Writer Chris Claremont stated that he originally planned to have Mystique and Destiny be Nightcrawler’s biological parents, but due to the Comics Code Authority, Marvel refused to do this. However, years later Mystique and Destiny were confirmed to be a lesbian couple.


Miss-AmericaMiss America

Real name: America Chavez
Comic: Young Avengers

Miss America story starts when her mothers sacrifice their lives to save their home planet, Utopia, forcing her leave home to fight injustice in more crime-ridden dimensions. She teams up with other superheroes including Loki, Hulkling, and Wiccan. In Young Avengers #12 she flippantly mentions that she is a lesbian.


Scandal-SavageScandal Savage

Real name: Scandal Savage
Comic: Secret Six

One of the most bad ass characters around, Scandal is the daughter of immortal caveman Vandal Savage. She was dating Knockout at the time of the other’s death, and is currently involved with Liana Kerzner. She has a healing factor, and wields her Lamentation Blades with deadly skill.


BatwomanBatwoman

Real name: Kate Kane
Comic: Batwoman 52

Easily the most prominent lesbian character in superhero comics, Kate’s backstory is tragic and includes the loss of both her mother and twin sister at the hands of a terrorist organisation. As an adult, she joins the Marines to please her father, but is eventually outed as a lesbian and is dishonorably discharged. Upon her return to Gotham as a socialite, she parties and binge drinks every night until an encounter with Batman incites her to begin fighting crime.


Renee-MontoyaRenee Montoya

Real name: Renee Montoya
Comic: Batwoman 52

One time girlfriend to Batwomen, and former Gotham City police officer, Renee picked up the legacy of her friend Vic Sage after he passed away from lung cancer, becoming the second Question. As her desire to fight the good fight intensifies, she reconnects romantically with Kane. Unfortunately, in recent iterations of Batwoman, Montoya is no longer a superhero and simply a member of the police force. Although her big relaionship was with Batwoman, she has also had a long term relationship with Darla Hernandez. Currently she has the co-feature/back-up in DC’s flagship title, Detective Comics.


Maggie-SawyerMaggie Sawyer

Real name: Maggie Sawyer
Comic: Batwoman 52

Created back in the 1980s when the comic code prohibition against lesbian comic characters was in effect, Maggie was as ‘out’ as one could possibly be, even getting a girlfriend named Toby Raynes. Originally created as a supporting character for Superman, Maggie was later shifted over to the Batman universe, first as a cast member in Gotham Central and more recently as a potential love interest for Batwoman in Detective Comics.


Ramona-FlowersRamona Flowers

Real name: Ramona Flowers
Comic: Scott Pilgrim

Ramona Flowers is a subspace-traveling, mallet-weilding, endlessly desirable bisexual woman. How else would someone end up with seven evil exes? She’s guarded and maybe a bit cold, but she isn’t particularly interested in how most people feel about her. However, when she’s jealous or upset her head glows.


GwendolynGwendolyn

Real name: Gwendolyn
Comic: Saga

Gwendolyn is the most enigmatic characters in new Saga series. Her story, well Gwendolyn is on the hunt for her ex-fiancé, Marko. She doesn’t want him back, but he stole a family heirloom from her, a set of rings that allow languages to be translated between two speakers. After becoming infected with Heroine (a parasite that alters brain chemistry), Gwendolyn sees a naked mirage of the first woman she ever slept with, Velour.

A Happy Ellen Page Speaks Out

If Ellen Page seems especially upbeat and happy during her interviews promoting X-Men: Days of Future Past it’s because she is.

X-Men: Days of Future Past star, who came out as a lesbian on Valentine’s Day, did not anticipate how happy she’d feel after going public.

‘The reaction been really beautiful and I think it’s been so beautiful because, to me it’s so indicative of the change that’s happened and how society has evolved. I couldn’t be more grateful for just the support I’ve had, and quite frankly for me, it was just pretty immediate, and I felt like all this toxicity and worry and baggage that I was carrying, just sort of vanished. I don’t think I could even have anticipated how happy I feel.

Ellen Page

Another reason for her to be happy is the box office reception for the latest X-Men film which grossed more than $110 million at the box office in the US Canada over the Memorial Day weekend.


Watch Ellen Page in action – X-Men: Days of Future Past | Official Trailer

Lesbian Icon: A New Leaf – Ellen Page

Actress Ellen Page has landed roles that influenced pop culture like wildfire: Kitty Pryde in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, the quirky title character of the 2007 film Juno, the otherwise-ordinary Ariadne in Inception, and the comically sadistic spitfire sidekick Libby (alias “Boltie”) from Super. She has shown to be smart, laconic, down-to-earth, and yet full of life and expression when the role or the occasion calls for it.

On Valentine’s Day 2014, she spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Time To Thrive conference for LGBT youth, hailing the organization with profound voice-breaking sincerity. She articulated details, of the HRCF’s average work life, worries, troubles, fears—and that of the LGBT youths that they help. “I know there are people in this room who go to school every day and get treated like shit for no reason,” Page said, “Or you go home and you feel like you can’t tell your parents the whole truth about yourself… you worry about the future, about college or work or even your physical safety. And trying to create that mental picture of your life, of what on earth is going to happen to you, can crush you a little bit every day. It is toxic and painful and deeply unfair.” She continually referred to standing their and speaking as “a little weird” because of the industry she works in, how that industry is powerful enough to set standards for an entire culture that would be followed almost without question.

Read Ellen Page’s Kickass Response to an Anti-Gay Pastor

She may describe herself as a “tiny Canadian” but for all 5”1 of Ellen Page, she sure does pack a whole lot of feistiness within her. This feistiness especially is to be avoided at all costs, lest you unleash it and find yourself encouraging a whole lot of snark from the actor and unfortunately for one anti-gay pastor, this is something that they learnt recently when taking her to task about her recent announcement, at the Human Right’s Campaign Time to Thrive conference in February, that she is gay.

It’s unclear exactly what this anti-gay pastor said, though as Page took it upon herself to publicly defend her identity, we can only imagine what bile they sent her direction. However, despite the pastor’s ignorance, it did warrant this cracker of a tweet, firmly cementing Page’s voice as a hilarious one.

“2 da Pastor who wrote me-Being gay isn’t a belief. My soul isnt struggling & I don’t want arms of Heavenly Father around me. A girls arms? Yes.”

SourceEllen Page’s Twitter

 

Amusing and taking ignorance fully in her stride? Consider Ellen Page our new favourite role model (like she wasn’t already) because her words, while funny yet honest, show a new side of Hollywood and perhaps a brighter side of things for the out, LGBT stars of the future. She was shaky and close to tears in her initial coming out speech as she revealed that she is gay, but apart from a lone anti-gay pastor (and a small minority of haters) people have been welcoming and accepting of her truth, as they rightfully should be. Page is one of the most famous examples (after the other hilarious Ellen) of how to come out gracefully and free of the fear that your closeted days were shackling you with and while you couldn’t put a figure on those inspired by her, how Ellen Page is dealing with everything post-coming out is at least the best example of how well other closeted famous queer people’s honesty will be received. And if it isn’t and you do get the odd bigot trying to tear you down? As Ellen shows, with the power of Twitter, you can always do away with them with a swift kick to the proverbial balls.

Source: Ellen Page’s Twitter