A Brief – but Very Important – History of Queer Characters in Marvel and DC Comics

An original X-Men character, Iceman, aka Bobby Drake, had long been written as straight, but he was revealed to be gay in 2015 after fellow mutant Jean Grey read his mind. The recent Iceman solo series by Sina Grace focuses on his queer identity.

The dark and twisty John Constantine has been an onscreen presence for a while, with the likes of Keanu Reeves and Matt Ryan portraying him. Since “Hellblazer #51” in 1992, the chain-smoking detective has alluded to his queer identity. In the comics and The CW Arrowverse, he is a bisexual man.

Another member of the X-Men, Psylocke dates both men and women in the comics. She has been with the fellow mutant Archangel as well as Cluster, a female clone of one of the three brains of Fantomex.

The Marvel comics reference Loki’s gender fluidity as he shapeshifts into different characters with feminine and masculine qualities. In 2014, Marvel writer Al Ewing confirmed that Loki was bisexual and would shift between genders. Fans were thrilled that the new Loki series on Disney+ also addresses his gender and sexuality.

Canonically, Ayo (Florence Kasumba), one of King T’Challa’s guards in Black Panther, is a queer character in the comics. She falls in love with another warrior name Aneka. While Ayo and Okoye (Danai Gurira) were supposed to have a flirtatious scene in the Black Panther movie, this moment was eventually cut out, much to the disappointment of some fans.

At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel announced that Valkyrie would be the MCU’s first LGBTQ+ superhero. In recent comics, Valkyrie is depicted as bisexual and in a relationship with anthropologist Annabelle Riggs.

Valkyrie isn’t the only queer character in the world of Thor. In a “Planet Hulk” storyline, Korg, the Kronan alien, is gay, developing a romantic relationship with the male warrior Hiroim.

In 2016, writer Greg Rucka confirmed that Wonder Woman is queer and has been in relationships with other women. In Wonder Woman: Earth One, a blonde Amazon named Kasia puts her arm around Diana and kisses her on the cheek.

Deadpool 2 alludes to Deadpool’s queerness, but he’s always been explicitly pansexual in the comics.

In Captain Marvel the movie, Carol Danvers doesn’t really have any non-platonic relationship. In the comics, one iteration of Captain Marvel, Phyla-Vell, is the lesbian daughter of Mar-Vell who becomes involved with Heather Douglas, aka Moondragon.

Thunder, aka the eldest daughter of Black Lightning, is involved with her teammate Grace Choi in the storyline “One Year Later.” With her appearance on The CW’s Black Lightning, Anissa Pierce, portrayed by Nafessa Williams, became the first black lesbian superhero on TV.

Starring Ruby Rose, The CW’s Batwoman features the canonical story of Kate Kane getting kicked out of a military academy for being in a relationship with a female cadet. Kane became the first queer iteration of Batwoman in 2006, 50 years after she was introduced as Batman’s love interest.

Birds of Prey briefly nods at Harley Quinn’s queerness, but she’s been in same-sex relationships long before this onscreen reveal. “Harley Quinn #25” features the antiheroine kissing Dr Pamela Lillian Isley, aka Poison Ivy. In fact, the writers have revealed that they were dating and in an open relationship.

While she’s been straight washed in her onscreen appearances, Mystique has been written as queer in the comics since the ’70s. In an early Ms Marvel comic, she and her partner Destiny, aka Irene Adler, adopted their daughter Rogue.