Xochitl Gomez, Victoria Alonso Talk About the Importance of Bringing America Chavez to Life and Out of the Closet
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will debut the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first official lesbian Latina superhero, America Chavez. America first made history as Marvel’s first Latin-American LGBTQ+ character to star in an ongoing comic book series in 2011. Now, the character will be brought to life by Xochitl Gomez (Baby-Sitter’s Club).
Of course, that came after years of “firsts” and people behind the scenes and online pushing for representation, and fighting to be seen even if the genre didn’t want to change. Now, we get to have young stars like Xochitl (pronounced soh-chee) Gomez becoming the face of a new generation of heroes. “It’s huge that I get to represent these communities that maybe haven’t felt seen before,” Gomez said, according to Deadline. “And you really do see her—I mean, how do you miss her? She’s on the poster! How crazy is that?”
She called her character, “a positive representation of Latinas in particular because, in the past, there hasn’t been much of that. America is positive, charismatic, and she’s resilient.” Those are all things that Xochitl Gomez herself has had to be, since the internet is trash and some blamed her and her character for the movie being banned in some places. Due to the confirmation of America’s lesbian identity, the film will not be shown in some countries.
Victoria Alonso, Marvel exec and Doctor Strange 2 EP, who is both a Latina and a lesbian, and spoke about the importance of his character to people of all ages.
“I think visibility at any age is incredibly important whether you’re 10, 20, 30 or 80,” she declared. “To have your people and to have someone who says, ‘I am, and it’s OK. I am, and I am powerful. I am, and I belong.’ I think any young adult could have that today, [specifically] the 42 percent of LGBTQIA adults that consider suicide or those that do it, would probably think twice that maybe they’re OK [as they are]. My hope today is that—as a small gift from a bunch of filmmakers that want to tell great stories—if there are any kids out there thinking even minimally that their lives are not worth it, I can honestly tell you their lives are worth it and we will celebrate it with them.”
As for the bans, “[We] will continue to fight for inclusion in every place, city, and state so that every kid that doesn’t see themselves can at least see a tiny little bit of who they can become.”
And despite all the issues we can, rightfully, discuss about Marvel movies, there is still something special about getting to see a superhero who looks like you, sounds like you, or feels like someone you grew up with. It makes the idea of what it means to be super a quality anyone can have.
(via Deadline, image: Marvel)
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
