This article contains spoilers for episode 3 ofLoki.
Even beforeLokipremiered, Marvel Studios made sure to let everyone know that the trickster god was not playing by the usual rules with Tom Hiddleston announcing that the series would betaking over Wednesdays on Disney Plus. However,Lokihad a few more aces up its sleeve, including the revelation that the beloved Loki has just become the MCU’s first LGBTQ character.
The big moment was actually anything but that, as Loki’s admission of being bisexual came in the classiest and Lokiest of ways to the only person to whom he could open up like this: himself. After episode two introduced Sylvie as his blonde female variant, as they start to draw closer to one another, she posits that this charming prince’s love life must have seen plenty of “would-be-princesses or perhaps, another prince”. Loki simply responds “A bit of both. I suspect the same as you.”
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And just like that, in the subtlest manner possible, the MCU introduced its first openly bisexual character. It’s certainly not a hero, because Loki is really an antihero who throughout the course of most of the Infinity Saga leaned more towards his villainous tendencies, and let’s not forget that among the pack of Marvel baddiesLoki’s always been considered the cream of the crop.
Despite the relative shock this might bring, the fact is that Loki was always on the cards to be outed as the MCU’s first LGBTQ+ member because he’s always been considered bisexual in the Marvel Comics source material. Although MCU Loki might be very different from his comic book persona, the truth is thatgender fluidity and sexual identityhave always been a big part of Loki even in Norse mythology where he’s known to take many forms.
For years many Marvel fans both within and outside the LGBTQ+ community called for the studio to embrace some of its characters' identities, in some cases due to that being a defining element of a hero’s personality such as Valkyrie inThor, member of the Dora Milaje inBlack Panther, or evenDeadpool’smore humorous take on pansexuality. Sometimes it was just the fandom playing on even the slightest of overtones showed by someone like Bucky Barnes; and in other cases, it was the MCU itself toying with the idea of makingCaptain Marvelvery relatable for its LGBTQ+ fans.
In the end, it was Loki, the cunning schemer who’s been causing havoc across the universe since the MCU’s early days who turned out to be both the diverse hero that Marvel needed and deserved. Marvel movies have been around for over a decade now, yet in its early stages the MCU didn’t really find too much time to explore stories related to its more diverse cast of superheroes, a trend that beginning to change now that its productions are established as one of the biggest properties out there and it transitions to showcasinga new blackCaptain Americaor heroes that are not as widely known asIron Manand the rest of the first batch ofAvengers.
It cannot be overstated how big of a role series director Kate Herron played in making this moment happen in such an organic way because as she quickly took to Twitter to say, that was a big part of what brought her on board forLokiin the first place being that Herron herself identifies as bisexual.Lokiis not a story about a bisexual character, it’s a story about one of the coolest Marvel antagonists ever, who just so happens to be very comfortable in his own bisexual skin.
The entire “Lamentis” episode works as the perfect background for Loki to confide this to Sylvie, because for once he doesn’t have to put up any walls to talk to someone who perhaps knows him even better than he knows himself. It’s the kind of secret that’s best shared when Loki and Sylvie are showing how good of a chemistry they share
That Loki’s bisexuality became publicduring Pride monthjust seems like poetic justice both for the character and the LGBTQ+ community, but even before thisEternalswas already lining up Phastos, the MCU’s first openly gay superhero. Now that the cat is out of the bag, it might just be time for Disney and Marvel to channel these creative energies to address the elephant in the room that is Maria Rambeau andCarol Danvers' relationship inThe Marvels.
For now, Loki will be Marvel’s champion for the LGBTQ+ community, and although there’s not any reason to believe that the series will continue exploring this side of him during this season, the fact thatLokicould be a multiseason affair keeps that door open in the future.
Anyone that in the past felt that the MCU was purposely playing down Marvel’s LGBTQ+ roster can now at least find one talkative Asgardian prince they can relate to, and it so happens to be the same fan-favorite Loki whose journey from self-estranged villainy to heroic sacrifice made him loved by everyone, a burden that the god of mischief will be quite happy to carry moving forward.
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