'Captain Marvel' Directors Weigh in on Fan Speculation About Carol Danvers' Sexuality

It goes without saying that LGBTQ comic book fans have wanted a superhero they could relate to in the MCU for a long time. So far, the studio has claimed there will be gay characters coming soon, but we've yet to see any--apart from Joe Russo's very brief cameo in Avengers: Endgame, where he played a gay man. But could Captain Marvel in fact be the first gay superhero in the MCU? The directors of her blockbuster film are here to weigh in on the fan speculation.

Since Captain Marvel debuted, fans have been chatting online about the possibility that she could actually be gay. As Cosmopolitan points out, many pointed out the lingering stares between Carol Danvers and her best friend Maria, and couldn't help but theorize they would get together. And fans have been very excited about it.

When a Twitter user posted a romantic fan-made pic of Carol and Valkyrie (an openly gay character in the comics) and Brie Larson commented, "We cute," fans only went crazier thinking this meant that Captain Marvel was going to come out sooner than they thought. But that didn't happen, as we saw in Avengers: Endgame, although some have taken to Twitter to ask if her new short hairstyle could possibly mean anything. One fan compared it to her own experience of cutting her hair short when she was "figuring things out."

ComicBookMovie.com got to sit down with Captain Marvel directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and tried to get to the bottom of it. They explained:

"That was one of those things when we were in the writing stage, and the sky was the limit and the movie could be anything, we were discussing: 'Are we going to get into any type of romantic relationship with this character?' It wasn't like there was a philosophical opposition to pursuing that storyline; it just came down to real estate in the story we were telling. We knew we were telling a story of self discovery and we wanted friendship, and her friendship with Maria, to be a huge part of that.

As Captain Marvel was first and foremost about Carol Danvers finding herself and exploring her powers, the directing duo didn't think romance had any place there.

"There was no room for any romantic storyline for us," they continued. "I know people have made their own conclusions about that and I think that's part of the fun of making these movies is that they become the audience's movies and they get to create any kind of narrative they want for what's happening off the screen. For us, as storytellers, it's a friendship and a story about that and self discovery."

DC's live-action TV series, on the other hand, are moving way ahead of Marvel in the LGBTQ representation department. Ruby Rose, a gender fluid actor, is leading the upcoming Batwoman series on The CW, where she plays the lesbian titular character. Hopefully, Marvel won't stay too behind for long.

[h/t: Cosmopolitan]