Marvel has confirmed that Star-Lord is bisexual. In Guardians Of The Galaxy#9: I Shall Make You a Star-Lord by Al Ewing, the character is shown to be in a polyamorous relationship with a man and a woman and feels accepted and at home with them, which is lovely for Peter Quill as a character.
Per Pink News, here’re the details:
Their love triangle is confirmed with a frame showing the trio bathing together in a ceremonial temple, the intimate scene soaked in bisexual lighting.
“You’re my home,” he tells them as the three lovers meet in an embrace. The relationship lasts for more than 100 years.
Chris Pratt ️#Marvel pic.twitter.com/dkv6TmF8JB
— ⃝⃒⃤ (@5F3RN4NDO) December 14, 2020
Now … does that mean that Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord will be depicted as such onscreen in the MCU? I … wouldn’t hold my breath.
According to Mirror, it isn’t known if Quill’s sexuality is going to be incorporated into any of his upcoming appearances, and he has two more movies (at the least) set for Marvel. The reason it’s unlikely is that Marvel has a terrible track record here. And with Star-Lord as one of the lead characters in a big franchise, Marvel’s bound to be even more skittish.
Marvel has a tendency of talking about characters being queer, and sometimes depicting them as such in trailblazing comics, and then never showing that on-screen. Ever.
Valkyrie was confirmed bisexual in Thor: Ragnarok but the scene was then cut. We were given our first gay character in Avengers: Endgame and it was … Joe Russo playing a man we’d never met before in a brief cameo. Marvel’s current trajectory is clearly heading into the world of the Young Avengers, where we have beloved couples like Wiccan/Hulking that could be explored (they’re married in the comics). But will the MCU do them justice? Does anyone really trust the MCU at this point when it comes to queer representation?
In addition, many fans reacted to this news with amusement, dismay, or a bit of both, considering that Chris Pratt is the worst Chris. Flashback to February 2019, when actor Elliot Page referred to the church that the uber-religious Pratt attends and promotes, Hillsong, as “infamously anti-LGBTQ.” Pratt tried to argue the point, but it’s not a big jump to imagine he won’t be rushing to include elements of this comics Star-Lord in his performance.
Most of the online reaction about the Star-Lord news and speculation as to how it intersected with Pratt went like this:
marvel confirming star lord is bisexual when chris pratt is literally homophobic i have to laugh
— ¡carolina! (@andorkenobi) December 13, 2020
How long until the headline ‘Chris Pratt exits role as Star Lord citing “creative differences”’ drops? pic.twitter.com/twqT1SqaKu
— ⑂ Ya like jazz? (@SamuEllmer) December 14, 2020
Re-cast with Janelle Monáe https://t.co/fo6GNtByl2
— Leena (@LeenaVanD) December 14, 2020
The world of comics has historically been a more inclusive place and even there, a lot of work still needs to be done. So making Peter Quill canonically bisexual is a step in the right direction, and it’s great to see such a positive representation of polyamory on the page as well. But movies have the ability to make a much bigger impact and statement worldwide, and the MCU is lagging far behind. TV tends to do a bit better, but still shouldn’t get a pass—and we have yet to see how the MCU/Disney+ shows stack up in this regard. All this being said, would I love it if they actually gave us bisexual polyamorous Peter Quill? Absolutely. I just don’t think the MCU is about to do it.
The next time we will get to see Quill on screen is in Thor: Love and Thunder. Valkyrie, who is going to be in the movie played by Tessa Thompson, is the first LGBTQ+ hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it is a long time coming. In addition to Valkyrie, we also have the first LGBT kiss in the upcoming movie The Eternals and so the future does seem to be heading toward a better future representation-wise, but it’s still a slow-moving process.
Would love if Sif and Valkyrie were the queen and king of New Asgard to be honest.
But it would be nice to see this version of Peter Quill on screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m just not holding my breath for it. Maybe in a few years, with a different actor playing Star-Lord? Please?
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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