Marvel and DC have come under fire by GLAAD in its damning report about the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in the entertainment industry.
In its annual report, the advocacy organisation noted the "disappointing drop" in the number of movies that included an LGBTQ+ character, revealing that just 12.8% of films released by major studios in 2017 included a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer character.
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However, among those that come under particular fire are the two major comics studios Marvel and DC, the report highlighting movies such as Wonder Woman, Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2 as examples.
"It is becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore that LGBTQ people remain almost completely shut out of Hollywood's big budget comic book films that have dominated the box office over the past several years," GLAAD said.
They note that Wonder Woman is bisexual in the recent Greg Rucka comics, though in the 2017 movie decided to pair her with male love interest Steve Trevor.
"Being an out and proud bi woman would be in line with her ideals to fully live her own truth and recognise all parts of herself," it says. "Portraying Diana as bi would also be a welcome sign of progress for comic book films."
However, DC wasn't the only one to come under fire, with Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok also slammed for its portrayal of two famously bisexual characters, Valkyrie and Korg.
"This film disappointingly did not include any references to their identities or love interests, and as such, audiences would have no clue they were seeing queer characters unless they had read outside press or the source material stories," the report says.
On top of that, director Taika Waititi decided to cut a scene in which a woman is seen leaving Valkyrie's bedroom, which was reportedly removed so as not to distract from the scene's "exposition".
Guardians also came under fire, especially since director James Gunn had previously said "we might have already done that" when asked about including an LGBTQ+ character. GLAAD noted that there are "no discernable" LGBTQ+ characters.
In short, despite strident steps in increasing diversity with movies such as Wonder Woman and Black Panther, it seems DC and Marvel still have a long way to go with LGBTQ+ representation.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
