Kevin Feige says the MCU will introduce a transgender character in Phase Four

Marvel boss Kevin Feige has revealed that one of the studio’s upcoming films will feature its first transgender character.

The super-producer’s comments suggest that the MCU’s first trans character will appear in The Eternals, which is due to land in cinemas in November this year.

Feige was giving a talk at the New York Film Academy when he was asked whether there would be further LGBTQ+ representation in upcoming Marvel films, specifically in terms of trans characters.

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The 46-year-old said “absolutely yes” and stated that the character would appear “very soon, in a movie we’re shooting right now”.

The Eternals is the only Marvel movie known to be in production at the current time.

Feige has already confirmed that one of the male characters in The Eternals is gay and the upcoming Thor sequel will make Valkyrie’s sexuality clearer than it has been in previous movies.

“He’s married, he’s got a family, and that is just part of who he is,” said Feige of the gay character in The Eternals.

Reports from the CCXP 2019 expo (via Out) suggest that Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos will be the character depicted as gay.

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Marvel’s parent company Disney has recently been criticised for its portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters, with a common criticism of the MCU being that it lacks diversity.

Disney promoted a moment of queer representation in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but many were disappointed that this representation amounted to a brief kiss during a mass celebration scene.

Abrams teased the LGBTQ+ moment in interviews before release, saying: “In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film.”

Fans had been pushing for John Boyega’s ex-Stormtrooper Finn and Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to be revealed as lovers in the film.

Isaac himself supported the character arc and said he had pushed for it to happen, telling IGN that “Disney overlords were not ready” for it.

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Despite its brevity, the Star Wars same-sex kiss was cut in Singapore, with LGBTQ+ representation snipped from the movie to avoid an elevated age rating, and it was also removed in the Middle East.

The Eternals will be released in UK cinemas on 6 November 2020.