The Latest 'Loki' Revelation Represents a Major MCU Milestone

Loki episode 3 spoilers follow.

It goes without saying that Marvel's Cinematic Universe is wildly different from our own. You can't take more than a few steps there without stumbling over a gun-toting racoon or the tree-like biceps of a musclebound thunder god. But what's perhaps most fantastical about this world is that queer people barely seem to exist there at all, aside from one man who mourned the loss of his husband in that tokenistic scene from Avengers: Endgame.

Did Thanos snap all the gays away when he erased half of all life in the universe? No, not exactly. Instead, it's Marvel who snapped them all away, leaving queer people to languish in cut scenes from Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther, or in the implications of Bucky's tiger-related Tinder escapades. The Marvel Netflix shows were much better in this regard, but now they've been erased too (and their connection to the MCU was always tenuous anyway).

Like Thor playing a particularly rowdy game of Whac-A-Mole at the Asgardian state fair, we're really hammering this point home to show just how important Loki's latest episode is for queer fans watching back home.

Just a couple of weeks after Marvel confirmed Loki is gender-fluid in the MCU, much like he is in the comics, episode 3 finally established that Tom Hiddleston's character is queer too (also, just like in the comics).

Following their encounter with a surly local, Loki and Sylvie sneak onto a train which they hope will help save them from the apocalypse that's about to destroy Lamentis. Before their plan is rumbled by the guards, the two Loki variants open up about their pasts, discussing everything from magic and adoption to love and romance.

Around this time, Sylvie asks Loki if he's ever been with some "would-be princesses, or perhaps another prince?" To which the God of Mischief replies, "A bit of both. I suspect, the same as you. But nothing ever..." "Real," Sylvie chimes in.

And just like that, Marvel's bisexual population suddenly jumped up from zero to two (canonically speaking, although Valkyrie has previously been confirmed to be bisexual too). Based off what we've just seen, one or both of them could be pansexual or just more generally queer. No labels are used to describe either character by the end of this episode, but director Kate Herron has since confirmed online that Loki is indeed bisexual, just like herself.

And it's probably no coincidence that this entire chapter is drenched in pink, purple and blue lighting. When these colors are combined, this kind of lighting is often described as bisexual lighting because of how it directly corresponds to the bisexual pride flag. It's especially important that Loki is specifically bisexual given how often bisexuality is ignored or even contested by people who don't understand.

Weeks before the show started to air, Digital Spy asked Kate directly if Loki's queer identity from the comics would be addressed, and of course, with Marvel snipers ever-present, she was unable to confirm anything at the time.

Instead, Herron said that "We're taking Loki on a very unique, new journey. It's him kind of working out who he is, and trying to basically undo this mess he's made with time, with the TVA."

Reading between the lines, part of this "very unique" journey is him openly talking about his sexuality, and that's not just unique for him but also the MCU at large. Never before has a Marvel hero (or anti-hero) hinted at anything other than being straight, let alone one who is also the star of their own show. This "small step", as Kate puts it, is actually huge and absolutely worth celebrating. But should we be congratulating Marvel just yet?

So far, Loki's gender fluidity hasn't amounted to anything more than a throw-away reference on a piece of paper. And the way "Lady Loki" has been handled up to this point is a missed opportunity in that regard too. This week's queer reveal felt more tangible thanks to how it was actively discussed by Loki himself, but even now with this confirmed, things aren't equal, not by any means. In fact, Marvel still has a long way to go when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation.

And for anyone who decries all this, arguing that a superhero's sexual identity isn't relevant, just remember that straight love stories are integral to practically every Marvel film released so far. Imagine Spider-Man without MJ or Captain America without Peggy Carter.

Given all the heterosexual relationships we've seen so far in the MCU, would it really hurt to see someone like Loki share physical romance with a man for once? Even just an affectionate gesture or a brief kiss would be a real game-changer at this point, making countless fans feel truly seen in ways they never have before. Loki has made a great start here, but at the end of the day, words alone are just lip service, and without anything more, things will continue to remain unequal.

Eternals will hopefully change that soon when it introduces the MCU's first out gay superhero, and WandaVision's Billy Maximoff may also grow up one day to be as queer as his comic book counterpart. It's also worth remembering that we're only halfway through Loki's first season, which means more tangible queer representation may just be a week or two away.

But as of right now, there are still more words in Groot's vocabulary than there are queer characters in the MCU. And it should go without saying that this needs to change.

As one of the world's most popular franchises, Marvel can easily weather the outrage of a few bigoted fans, and even some homophobic countries if it comes to that. To bend to their whim is akin to the Avengers giving up the fight against Thanos. It's time for Marvel Studios to embody the heroism of its flagship characters and expand even further on this "small step" by finally making their world look more like our own.

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