Yahoo News 11 huge film franchises with zero LGBTQ+ characters
It's 2018, and although the world seems to be (very) slowly coming around to the idea that not everyone is heterosexual and cisgender, some of the biggest movie tentpoles in Hollywood are woefully behind the times in terms of LGBTQ+ representation.
The Alien and Star Trek reboot franchises get bonus points for showing how easy it is to acknowledge that gay people even exist at all, but they are about the only examples in a crowded field of multi-billion dollar fails.
1. MCU
Marvel Studios has continued to tease us with the unfulfilled promise of queer characters. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 director James Gunn hinted that his 2017 film would feature a gay character, only to later reveal that "we don't really know who's gay and who's not" because their backstories haven't been explored yet.
Thanks for that James, but LGBTQ+ people have had to imagine themselves into mainstream movies for decades without Guardians' 'help'.
Since then, moments that might have portrayed Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok and Danai Gurira's Okoye in Black Panther as bisexual were cut from their films.
2. Star Wars
Under Disney, Star Wars has actually introduced LGBTQ+ characters, but only in its novels. Of course, there are Finn and Poe, but The Last Jedi resolutely refused to make their romance canon.
The book Leia: Princess of Alderaan also hinted obliquely that Laura Dern's Amilyn Holdo was interested in more than just "humanoid males", but that never played out on screen.
3. DCEU
DC's TV output has been increasingly inclusive thanks to shows like Black Lightning and Supergirl – including a web series starring gay superhero The Ray.
But there wasn't any room for diversity in Zack Snyder's hyper-grim Man of Steel or Batman v Superman, and Joss Whedon's involvement on the slightly more upbeat Justice League didn't change that.
The best and most obvious opportunity so far was Wonder Woman, but it chose a shoehorned romance with Steve Trevor over exploring the sexuality of Diana or any of her Amazon sisters who live in a world without any men at all beyond one veiled allusion.
4. X-Men
The X-Men series would be an obvious place to feature an LGBTQ+ character, what with the frequent parallels drawn between coming out as a mutant/gay – including that very on-the-nose joke in X2.
In terms of gender balance, the 18-year-old franchise has always been ahead of its rivals, but even having openly bisexual director Bryan Singer at the reins for much of its existence hasn't translated into out characters.
And while Ryan Reynolds may claim that Deadpool is 'pansexual', until he finally introduces us to that boyfriend, it doesn't count. (All eyes are currently on Deadpool 2 to make the character Shatterstar gay or bisexual.)
5. Transformers
Ha ha ha ha ha – no. Michael Bay's testosterone-drenched explosion-fests do not feature an LGBTQ+ character. Although Age of Extinction was called out by GLAAD for including "at least one scene in which an effeminate man is made into an object of ridicule". Nice.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
While Johnny Depp may have joked that 'all his characters are gay' to upset some Disney execs, the powers that be could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the multi-billion dollar franchise itself remains utterly straight.
7. James Bond
The classic spy franchise is a bit of an oddity, as it has featured a handful of characters over the decades who are clearly coded as gay, such as Mr Wint and Mr Kidd in Diamonds are Forever and Raoul Silva in Skyfall (while straightwashing other LGBTQ+ characters from the books, such as Goldfinger's Pussy Galore).
Still, none of these are ever officially outed, and if queerness is just used to make a bunch of murderous psychopaths seem 'even creepier', we'd just as soon they didn't bother.
8. Fast and Furious
In a series where cars parachute out of planes, people come back from the dead and weird anachronistic future Tokyos are apparently a thing, one man kissing another is just a 'plot twist' too far.
9. Harry Potter
No – we're afraid that Albus Dumbledore does not count. Despite JK Rowling outing him herself, there has never been anything in either the books or films to indicate his sexuality. This will apparently remain the case even after the sexy, young(ish) version played by Jude Law debuts in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
10. Cloverfield
Maybe one of those alternate universes from The Cloverfield Paradox has some LGBTQ+ people in it.
11. Jurassic Park
We're claiming Laura Dern's Dr Ellie Sattler as a queer icon thanks to her portrayal as a competent female scientist who has better things to do than wear impractical clothes and allow other people to push her around when the dinosaurs are rampaging. Unfortunately, she remains, as far as we know, a cisgender, heterosexual woman.
Unfortunately, one of Jurassic World's main themes was about a woman being punished and humiliated for being a 'terrible aunt' because she is too busy on the day she opens a park famous for killing everyone than look after her bratty nephews.
In this progressive atmosphere, how much screen time do you think was dedicated to LGBTQ+ people?
Hint: none.
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