Something felt different aboutDeadpool 2the dayCeline Dion dropped her music videofor Ashes.
More seriously, it felt likeRyan Reynoldsand his team behind the sequel were attempting to acknowledge a long-festering issue.
Deadpool is one of the relatively few LGBTQ superheroes we have in comic books.
Credit: Twentieth Century Studios
Then came Deadpool by way ofYanis Marshall.
She doesnt beat around the bush the way so many other characters in studio films have in the past.
The words here matter.
Joe Lederer/Twentieth Century Fox
Its only now that we finally have two characters who can make that clear to a superhero movie audience.
Negasonic and Yukio, however, dont satisfythe Vito Russo Test.
(Most of those films didnt pass the Vito Russo Test, by the way.
Twentieth Century Fox
Negasonic and Yukio barely serve any function other than to continue the jokes.
Then theres Deadpool himself.
The sequel had more fun with this.
Deadpools girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) picks up on this attraction and mentions, Dont f Colossus.
It just happens to be that hes in love with Vanessa.
Apparently, gay characters arealready in the MCU, according toGuardians of the Galaxydirector James Gunn.
We just havent seen them yet.
Fewer audiences: fewer dollars.
We were banned in China, he said.
We were rated f you!
In that sense, the inclusion of openly LGBTQ characters in an R-rated studio film is a safe play.
And because its safe, it raises the question: Why cant directors and producers do more with this?
At the very least, Hollywood could make a run at be more inclusive with its PG-13 fare.
