Superheroine America Chavez will make her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is super exciting considering this means we get some teen lesbian representation. This is a great time to remind everyone who America Chavez is and why we love her so much.
Created in 2011 by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, America is Marvel’s first Latin-American LGBTQ+ character to star in an ongoing series, a lesbian, and one of the awesome members of the Young Avengers. For a long time, the character believed that she was raised by her mother in the Utopian Parallel, a reality that is out of time, only to question that reality years later. Her mother died to protect this reality, and America became a hero, traveling the many realities to make a name for herself.
In the comics, she possesses superhuman strength, durability, and flight. She also has the ability to kick open star-shaped holes in reality, allowing her and others to travel through the multiverse and into other realities. Judging by the synopsis of the Doctor Strange sequel, this is the situation that leads to her catching the eye of Doctor Strange and Wong, the MCU’s new Sorcerer Supreme.
“He naturally wants to know more about her,” America actor Xochitl Gomez (The Baby Sitter’s Club) said, we assume alluding to Strange. “With America, she just keeps going, especially when things are going wrong—and everything is going completely wrong for her. She’s running away from her uniqueness until she learns to embrace it. She just never loses hope, and I can relate to that. She’s aspirational that way.”
Director Sam Raimi has discussed that America will be a foil for Strange, being irreverent towards his position. “Well, she adds an exciting spirit of youth,” Raimi told Fandango. He continued,
She’s a newcomer to her powers and to our world. She actually comes from another universe. I think she brings a sense of lightness and youth. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange can be a very egotistical and stuffy character, a know-it-all. She just flies in the face of that. She doesn’t really have respect for him originally. She sees right through the fronts that he puts up. She’s much more down to earth and one of us, and she doesn’t take his attitude. I don’t think he likes that at first. So, she creates a contrast.
One difference from the comics that people are bummed about is how young she is. Again, America is a lesbian, but making her a teenager in an action flick might be used as an excuse for only giving her some blink-and-you-miss-it representation, or just ignoring it altogether for the sake of overseas markets. People who ship Kate Bishop and America are especially devastated, because their actors are so far apart in age that it wouldn’t work onscreen, despite America having a thing for an AU version of Kate.
What is also disappointing is once again, seeing how Marvel underpays the writers and creators of the original comics. Joe Casey recently gave an interview with The Hollywood Reporter where he discussed this financial issue that has been plaguing comic writers since the MCU has gotten so big.
“The fact is, Marvel owns America Chavez. That’s not in dispute on any level, but there are still systemic flaws in the way that creators are neither respected nor rewarded,” Casey said. “Marvel has paid me nothing for America Chavez, not only for appearing in the Doctor Strange sequel, but in numerous animated TV episodes, for the numerous action figures they’ve made of her, for video games she’s appeared in. They seem to be fine with that.”
Casey continued, “For me, it’s not about money. It’s not even about the respect. I would never expect to be respected by a corporation. If I’m in a position where I can afford not to take their insult of an offer, and be able to talk about it, maybe the next guy—where that kind of money could change their life—would get a fair shot of receiving that money.”
As we celebrate America making it to the big screen, we should celebrate the writers like Casey, Dragotta, and Gabby Rivera, who developed her into the fan favorite arriving onscreen in just a few weeks.
(image: MCU/Disney)
