We Have Director Kate Herron to Thank for That Queer Reveal in Loki
**SPOILERS FOR LOKI EPISODE 3 “LAMENTIS.”**
Kate Herron is the director of this first season of Disney+’s Loki, and she has been integral in giving us a small piece of bisexual representation on the show. In the most recent episode, “Lamentis,” we see Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) talk about the broken hearts left along the way. Sylvie asks about whether there have been princesses or maybe another prince in prince Loki’s life, and Loki replies “both”—validating something that already existed in canon in the comics but has been left out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until now.
In a tweet, Herron explained that one of her goals, when she joined the Loki team, was to acknowledge that Loki was bisexual, as she is, and to officially make it canon in the MCU.
From the moment I joined @LokiOfficial it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual. It is a part of who he is and who I am too. I know this is a small step but I’m happy, and heart is so full, to say that this is now Canon in #mcu #Loki 💗💜💙 pic.twitter.com/lz3KJbewx8
— Kate Herron (@iamkateherron) June 23, 2021
As a bisexual woman, I’m very glad to see this bit of representation finally exist in the MCU. I’m glad Herron fought for it and Marvel allowed it to happen. Yet, at the same time, I have to ask: “Why the hell did it take this long?”
This is especially jarring because children’s animation has surpassed the MCU in every conceivable way. Queer creators like Rebecca Sugar, Noelle Stevenson, Dana Terrance, and others have worked to give us programs with LGBTQ characters—sometimes even multiple characters on the same program. They had to fight for that in children’s animation. Even non-queer creators like the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender have worked hard to normalize that kind of content because, for so long, the stereotype was that even acknowledging LGBTQ folks in children’s products was seen as inherently vulgar.
Yet, now Disney’s Owl House has a bisexual lead and a lesbian main character.
What is taking so long? We have been promised that The Eternals will give us Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, who will be the first gay superhero in the MCU. What will that mean? It is unclear, since this is a movie with a cast of stars that is absurdly highly stacked. Will this be another blink-and-you-miss-it moment that can be cut for international markets? Or will we actually get to see Phastos with a love interest or something that normalizes it and doesn’t get easily erased?
We will find out November 5, 2021, in that regard, but until then, hopefully, Marvel will see the excitement people have about Loki and see that as an indicator of what to do moving forward in order to create the inclusive MCU they clearly want to have.
(image: Marvel)
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