The Marvel Cinematic Universe is adding another LGBTQ+ superhero to its ever-expanding roster.
In the brand new trailer for Doctor Strange 2, subtitled Multiverse of Madness, the title character (Benedict Cumberbatch) is aided by America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) – a teenager with superhuman strength, longevity, durability, flight, star blasts and, most importantly, the ability to travel between dimensions.
In the comics, America notably made history as Marvel’s first Latin-American LGBTQ+ character.
The MCU made strides with LGBTQ+ representation last year when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) came out as bisexual in his solo series, and Eternals introduced the franchise’s first ever openly gay superhero in Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry). In the latter, Phastos was also depicted as happily married to a human (Haaz Sleiman).
The blockbuster, which also stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff, and Ma Dong-seok, was banned in several Arab countries due to the inclusion of Phastos and his husband Jack, as well as a same-sex kiss between them both.
Thankfully, Disney stood their ground and refused to remove any LGBTQ+ scenes.
While it remains to be seen whether America will be out-and-proud in Doctor Strange 2, the aforementioned storylines prove that Marvel are making good on their previous commitment to diversify their heroes.
Marvel’s executive vice president of film production, Victoria Alonso, told Variety at the Black Widow premiere that are “so many stories we can tell” and that the studio aims to “empower those that are”.
“We’re not changing anything. We’re just showing the world who these people are, who these characters are… There’s a lot that we have coming up that I think will be representative of the world of today,” she said. “We’re not going to nail it in the first movie or the second movie or third movie, or the first show or second show, but we will do our best to consistently try to represent.”
The Doctor Strange 2 trailer also sees the return of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), Karl Mondo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Wong (Benedict Wong), Nicodemus West (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams).
Additionally, Patrick Stewart returns as Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, from the X-Men film series. The actor last played the beloved role in 2017’s Logan, which has since been hailed as one of the greatest superhero films of all time.
In the teaser, Xavier can be heard telling Strange – and an unidentified council of heroes – “We should tell him the truth”.
An official synopsis for Multiverse of Madness reads: “After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Dr. Stephen Strange continues his research on the Time Stone. But an old friend turned enemy seeks to destroy every sorcerer on Earth, messing with Strange’s plan and also causing him to unleash an unspeakable evil.”
The film will directly reference the events of 2021’s WandaVision, which saw Wanda supernaturally hold a town hostage as she mourned the death of Vision (Paul Bettany), and Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw the multiverse break after Strange used his magic to make Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity a secret.
Due for release on 6 May, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the fifth film in the MCU’s fourth phase after Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Watch the epic trailer here or below.
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