8 Heroes Who Could Be The Marvel Cinematic Universe's First Gay Character

Though there's still a long way to go, we have seen comics, movies and TV shows steadily become more and more progressive over the last few years - and last week's Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage will hopefully pave the way for more LGBT (or LGBTQ, or LGBTTTQQIAA if you prefer) characters to get the spotlight across the various pop culture platforms.

But what about arguably the biggest platform of them all: Marvel Studios' Cinematic Universe?  

In a recent interview, the question was posed to Kevin Feige who gave a somewhat vague response of "within the next decade, for sure." Doesn't exactly suggest that the wheels are in motion, but some might say Marvel has earned the benefit of the doubt. 

So, who could they go with? There are currently 129 Marvel Comics characters that identify as homosexual, and even though most of them would be considered fairly minor players, there's no reason the roles of their movie counterparts couldn't be beefed up considerably. There's also the possibility of changing the sexuality of a bigger character that would more readily slot into the studio's current movie slate, which we know up until 2019. 

Let's take a look at 8 possibilities...

Marvel does seem serious about at least taking positive steps towards diversifying their Avengers roster - but why not hammer their intentions home with the inclusion of a gay Hispanic-American man?

Miguel Santos started out as a villain before joining the team and was originally written as straight. It was only when he was approached by the Great Lakes Avengers as a potential new recruit that he inadvertently outed himself, believing the team's acronym (GLA) to stand for the Gay/Lesbian Alliance. 

Santos played a role in both the Civil War and the Infinity War in the comics, if Marvel want to introduce a new LGBT character that wouldn't require too much shoehorning in, Living Lightning's their man.