Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverhas finally made its way onto the big screen. Even though it’s been a long and challenging road for the project, it’s already become a massive success for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The sequel to one of the biggest Marvel films ever has already accumulated more than 300 million big ones at the box office and has been warmly received by fans and critics alike, and it’s easy to see why.
The film functions as a glorious tribute to the lateChadwick Boseman, with an emotional ending that makes the nearly three-hour runtime worth it. There’s a lot to love about this ending. M’Baku (Winston Duke) becomes King, Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) is hatching a new plan to take over the surface, Aneka (Michaela Coel) and Ayo (Florence Kasumba) reveal they’re in a relationship in a scene that lasts about five seconds…wait what?
So…Aneka and Ayo, who have had exactly one line of dialogue with each other for the entire film until the end, are in a romantic relationship in a scene that has virtually no impact on the rest of the plot and could conveniently be trimmed out for select international releases…goddamn it.
Yep, despite how greatBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreveris, the film is another example of queerbaiting from the Walt Disney Company, which has become increasingly prevalent in both their animated and live-action work. Seriously, the number of times that Disney has promised there will be sincere LGBTQIA+ representation only to pull the rug out from audiences with a seconds-long moment to make them say “that was it?” Don’t believe us? Here are just a few examples of Disney’s lackluster attempts at queer representation and why the company really needs to stop making the same mistakes.
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Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Disney’s rampant onslaught of live-action remakes is another major issue in it of itself, but that’s a topic for another day. Until then,Beauty and the Beast(2017) directorBill Condonmade comments that lit the internet on fire with the announcement that LeFou (Josh Gad) would be the subject of an"exclusively gay scene". On paper, making LeFou gay does make some sense given his undying loyalty to Gaston (Luke Evans), so it’s a change that could work if done right and perhaps even help the remake (that nobody asked for) set itself apart from the original. What is that “exclusively gay scene” you ask? A sequence where LeFou and an unnamed village henchman who was hinted at as a cross-dresser earlier in the film have a five-second dance at the very end of the film. And just like that, LeFou’s chances of being an improvement from the original are doused for good.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
It’s hard to callThe Rise of Skywalker(2019) the worstStar Warsfilm, mainly becauseAttack of the Clones(2002) exists, but it certainly has its problems. Rampant plot holes, poor explanations for characters somehow returning and most relevant to today’s topic, an out-of-nowhere gay kiss scene that means absolutely nothing to the overall story. We all know our favorite characters, Larma D’Acy (Amanda Lawrence) and Wrobie Tyce (Vinette Robinson), right? Of course you don’t, probably because their names sound like they came from a random word generator. Instead of Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) making history as a majorStar Warscouple, we get two background characters in a scene that was ultimately cut in select countries, which wouldn’t be hard since it’s only seconds long.
Lightyear (2022)
The part-prequel/part-spin-off telling the origins of iconic space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) started a firestorm when, around the time of Disney’s Florida controversy, it was revealed that Disney had cut a gay kiss from the then-upcoming Pixar film. Following social media pressure, Disney restored the scene, where Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) would share a kiss with her same-sex partner. We’d love to share with you the actress who plays the partner, but she doesn’t get a voice actress because the character doesn’t even talk in her scenes with Alisha. In fact, when most people saw the film, they didn’t even see a kiss. That’s because the kiss, which caused such a premature uproar thata theater in Oklahoma even put a warning outside of their theater,is quite literally a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in a montage where it doesn’t even make sense thematically. It’s quite possible that there was more to this scene in an earlier cut, but it’s more than likely that we’ll never see that if it even exists.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Valkyrie(Tessa Thompson) was promised to be one of the MCU’s first queer characters, yet when it came time to see that inThor: Love and Thunder, the hype was misleading, to say the least. The only indication as to Valkyrie’s sexuality is a brief moment where she kisses a fair maiden’s hand whilst escaping Omnipotence City. She’s actually significantly outshined by Korg (Taika Waititi), who mentions that he had two dads at one point in time and even finds a partner himself in Dwayne the Rock. It’s nice that Korg was able to find love, but a fictional CGI rock alien being able to celebrate pride before a humanoid person doesn’t send an incredible message.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Now we come back full circle toWakanda Forever, where Aneka and Ayo’s lackluster representation puts a serious damper on an otherwise excellent conclusion. Both characters easily could have had a larger role in the film. Ayo has been a part of the series even longer than Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Aneka has a significant comic history as a member of the Midnight Angels. Despite Disney continuously claiming that they are for equality and representation, examples like the ones mentioned here feel a lot more like tokenism than they do true diversity. These characters deserve a chance to have their relationships expressed front and center instead of the way-background.
The One Good Example of Queer Representation by Disney: ‘Eternals’ (2021)
We hate to end a critical piece on queer representation in blockbuster cinema on a negative note, so we thought we’d leave you with a better example, and believe it or not, the one movie to have a solid example of a same-sex relationship is the one that almost nobody likes -Eternals! After feeling guilty for the creation of the atomic bomb, which is an actual plot point in the movieEternals, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) desires a normal life and falls in love with Ben (Haaz Sleiman) and the two get married and raise a son, Jack (Esai Daniel Cross). Their plotline is a vital part of Phastos' story and why he’s apprehensive to get back into the fight against the deviants. However, he knows if he doesn’t, the world and his family will be gone. Phastos eventually embarks on his quest, sharing a lengthy kiss with his understanding and supportive partner. So, how about that? Not only is this an LGBTQIA+ relationship that’s at the forefront of the movie, but it also functions as a major part of the story that can’t be erroneously cut smoothly. Perfect representation? No, but it’s a step in the right direction that its successors in the MCU have yet to follow.
