Loki Is Officially Bisexual, and We Truly Love to See It

The following contains spoilers for Loki episode 3.

Let it be known that in the month of Pride in the year 2021, the Marvel Cinematic Universe confirmed that Loki is bisexual, officially introducing into MCU canon the first queer lead character. In episode 3 of Loki, Loki and Lady Loki/Sylvie banter over the definition of “love” and exchange questions probing into each other’s romantic interests. Since Loki is a prince, Sylvie asks if there was maybe “would-be princesses, or perhaps another prince” lined up for royal matrimony. Loki replies saying, “A bit of both. I suspect, the same as you.”

Thus far, this exchange marks the most explicit expression of an MCU character’s bisexuality. Previously, in a preview showing Loki’s Time Variance Authority file, Marvel revealed that Loki’s gender, as it is expressed in the comics, is “fluid.” Loki’s sexuality, however, had not yet been confirmed to also jive with his comic self—a character who's explicitly bisexual.

Marvel came close to bisexual representation in Thor: Ragnarok, when actor Tessa Thompson and director Taika Waititi attempted to depict a scene insinuating Valkyrie’s bisexuality—the scene showed a woman walking out of Valkyrie’s bedroom. The scene was ultimately cut. Thompson, though, maintained her character was bisexual, telling Rolling Stone, “There were things that we talked about that we allowed to exist in the characterization, but maybe not be explicit in the film.” In other words: Valkyrie’s character could be bisexual in theory but not on screen. Fortunately, Kevin Feige confirmed that Thompson’s Valkyrie will have an LGBTQ storyline in Thor: Love and Thunder, responding to that question directly by saying “the answer is yes.”

Thompson also hinted at the future storyline back in 2019, saying that since her character becomes the King of New Asgard in Avengers: Endgame, one future storyline would be explicitly clear. "She needs to find her queen," she said. "So that will be the first order of business."

Whether or not Loki has an explicitly LGBTQ storyline—which, for now, seems doubtful, as the series seems to march toward a heterosexual flirtation-ship between its two conventionally attractive white leads (a recipe one pinch diversity and one bowl of traditional Disney)—we at least have our first on-screen confirmation of a character’s sexual identity that isn’t heterosexual. (Well, okay, not counting Joe Russo's very minor appearance as a grieving husband in Avengers: Endgame.) So the moment was significant. It was also one director Kate Herron expressly wanted from Loki’s storyline, saying in a tweet how important it was for her that they acknowledge Loki’s bisexuality.

In an interview with Digital Spy, Herron also noted that much of the series revolves around Loki’s identity. “We're taking Loki on a very unique, new journey. It's him kind of working out who he is,” she said. Loki’s sexual identity wasn’t just a bit of dialogue, either, but part of the episode’s cinematography—with Lamentis’s pink, purple, and blue lighting alluding to the colors of the bisexual flag and a recent cinematic color palette known as “bisexual lighting.”

How Loki’s identity takes shape on screen for the remainder of the series obviously remains to be seen. While it might be too much to expect a robust romantic storyline for a character comparing love to a dagger, we at least hope his bisexuality isn’t simply a box Marvel checks off in a 15-second dialogue scene.

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