‘Black Panther’ Spoilers: Marvel Movie To Feature First Gay MCU Characters?

Marvel has still not featured any gay characters in their movies nor has the studio bared any bisexual characters out in the open. However, it seems like “Black Panther” is going to change all that.

According to Movie Web, new footage for the movie was recently screened. In it, a couple of Wakandan bodyguards, who are known as the Dora Milaje, were featured in a scene on a boat.

READ: Lupita Nyong’o teases plot details of ‘Black Panther’

The said bodyguards are Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), who complimented one another and showcased strong sexual innuendo. They did not openly display their sexual chemistry, but it was definitely suggested.

Meanwhile, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn told The Guardian that gay characters probably already exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although they haven’t been properly introduced yet. “You know, somebody asked me, ‘Will there be any gay characters in Marvel movies?’ and what I meant was there’s a lot of characters in the MCU and very few of them that we've delved into what their sexuality is. Whether it's gay or straight or bisexual, we don't really know,” he said. “Um, so I imagine that there are probably, you know, gay characters in the Marvel universe, you know, we just don't know who they are yet.”

Should Marvel decide to highlight gay characters in “Black Panther,” there’s definitely time to do it since the movie won’t be coming out until 2018. So far, what’s certain is that Chadwick Boseman would be headlining the movie as T’Challa, king of Wakanda.

Marvel studio chief Kevin Feige even said earlier there was no other actor better suited for the role of Black Panther than Boseman. “He is an incredibly talented actor who possesses all of the qualities that we wanted to inject into the character,” Feige told the South China Morning Post. “We've been seeding the notion of the Black Panther and the nation of Wakanda all the way back to ‘Iron Man 2,’ so it really felt like the time was right to bring in a character that had his own agenda.”

Boseman really worked hard to do his new role justice, and he even took on a role in a small film just so he can get a better feel of his South African character. “You know how comedians, before they do their big HBO stand-up show, they do the Comedy Store or a smaller venue?” Boseman asked. “To me, this was an independent film, so it was a chance to play a character from the continent of Africa before doing Black Panther.”

He jokingly added that he has been preparing for this superhero role his whole life. “We've all played superheroes before,” he said. “What you were doing as a kid, the fun of it was if you actually had a suit, you would use it, and you got up and you did the movements. You took on the voice. You took on all of it. So it's not really different here. It's just bigger.”

“Black Panther,” which is directed by Ryan Coogler, is slated for release on Feb. 16, 2018.