Kevin Feige defends MCU's first gay character

Kevin Feige and Joe Russo

Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige has defended the much-criticised first gay character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that debuted in the summer blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, saying it was supposed to be just a "matter of fact".

Some fans of the film have voiced their issues with the way the first gay character of the franchise, portrayed by director Joe Russo, was shown as nothing more than an extra at a support group who briefly mentioned going on a date with a man. In an interview with io9, Feige said the character was "never meant to be our first focused character".

"That was just meant to be a matter of fact and a matter of life and a matter of truth. And I liked it that our hero, Steve Rogers, doesn't blink an eye at that fact. It is just truth and is heartbreaking for his loss and for the life he's trying to put back together," he said.

"It was never meant to be looked at as our first hero. I guess it's the first reference so it does, of course, get a lot of attention," he added. Feige made it clear that the franchise plans to introduce its first LGBT superhero in future. "We haven't been shy about saying that that's coming and that there's much more prominent LGBT heroes in the future," he added.

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