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- Russell T Davies slammed the bisexual reveal in "Loki" during a virtual pride month panel.
- In the panel, he criticized the way streaming platforms are handling LGBTQ+ stories.
- Davies said that the one-line reference in "Loki" was "a ridiculous, craven, feeble gesture."
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The creator of "It's a Sin," Russell T Davies slammed the bisexual reveal in "Loki" during a virtual pride month panel in July for a UK university.
Davies was asked during the panel whether it is easier to tell LGBTQ+ stories. To this, the writer said that TV Drama commissioners "want gay stories" before criticizing how streaming services are handling LGBTQ+ stories.
"Nonetheless, I think huge, cleaning warning bells are ringing as the giants rise up with Netflix and Disney+ especially," Davies said. "I think that's a very great worry. 'Loki' makes one reference to being bisexual once, and everyone's like, 'Oh my god, it's like a pansexual show.' It's like one word. He said the word 'prince,' and we're meant to go, 'Thank you, Disney! Aren't you marvelous?'"
The 58-year-old screenwriter continued: "It's pathetic. It's a ridiculous, craven, feeble gesture towards the vital politics and the stories that should be told."
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In 2014, a Marvel comic writer confirmed that Loki is bisexual and genderfluid. The Disney+ series "Loki" included references to both of these identities, canonizing them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the third episode, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and a female version of himself, Sylvie, (Sophia Di Martino) have a conversation about their previous relationship in which Sylvie asks about "would-be-princesses" or "princes" implying they had both been romantically involved with both men and women.
After the third episode was released revealing Loki's bisexuality, the director of "Loki," Kate Herron, took to Twitter celebrating the achievement.
Herron wrote: "From the moment I joined @LokiOfficial it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual. It is a part of who he is and who I am too. I know this is a small step but I'm happy, and heart is so full, to say that this is now Canon in #mcu"
-Kate “I am the Lizard Queen” Herron (@iamkateherron) June 23, 2021
However, entertainment writer Rotem Rusak voiced the concerns of some MCU fans when speaking to Nerdist that Marvel is doing the "least amount of work" to appear representative.
She told Nerdist: "If skipping a single scene or line is enough to erase a character's queerness, that's not true representation."
Disney has a history of problems with including substantial queer representation in its stories. Both "Avengers: Endgame" and "Star Wars: Rise of The Skywalker" had LGBTQ characters but they were in the background and could be easily missed.
Tessa Thompson has confirmed that her character in the MCU Valkyrie was also bisexual in a tweet in 2017 but the scene in "Thor Ragnarok" that would have shown this was cut.
Marvel seems to be taking a step towards more queer representation with the upcoming "The Eternals" movie having an openly gay superhero and an onscreen LGBTQ kiss. Herron also told Collider that now the "door" is open to Loki's bisexuality she hopes that story can be explored more in future appearances.