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‘Ironheart’ Brings Another Queer Witch to the MCU

If you’re a queer Marvel fan like me and you’ve already devoured all of Ironheart (and read Nic’s amazing piece about the show), you are probably also geeking about how queer it is, especially compared to other Marvel properties. With Runaways scrubbed from the face of the internet (:sob:), Agatha All Along currently stands as the queerest entry in the MCU canon, but Ironheart almost gave it a run for its money with the very queer “be gay, do crime” crew we met in the first batch of three episodes. Between Slug, the nonbinary hacker played by Shea Couleé and trans Blood Sibling Jeri played by Zoe Terakes, plus hints here and there that Riri herself could be queer (e.g. her not correcting her mother when she asked if Riri was hiding a boy or girl in her room, and a sticker I spotted on her door that I thiiiiink is a rainbow helmet), Ironheart was off to the queer races from the jump.

In the second batch of episodes, we meet Zelma, a witch Riri goes to for help solving her little Hood problem. As we know, from real life, general pop culture, and Agatha All Along, all witches are inherently queer. However, it’s always a delight to have it confirmed. Zelma is played by Regan Aliyah, who you might know from XO, Kitty, and who is queer herself. While the dialogue and plot don’t allude to Zelma’s queerness explicitly, it’s still pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. For one, a shirt that says “you’re too good for him,” which isn’t necessarily queer but isn’t NOT, and the inarguable proof: a shirt that says “I <3 BX” where the heart has a rainbow. Plus, of course, Regan herself has confirmed it in an interview, saying that Zelma is “too cool not to be” queer. She adds, “if I’m playing the character, there’s something they’re seeing that’s a little queer in the character. That’s why they hired me, you know?”

There were hints within Ironheart that this might not be the last we see of Zelma, so here’s hoping we get more witchy queerness in the MCU years to come.


Double, Double, Let More News Bubble

+ Chappell Roan let her hair down for a photo shoot in NYC that has fans theorizing

+ Rachel Zegler added a little nod to Pride in her Evita performance last week

+ Sabrina Carpenter flirted with Ayo Edebiri at her concert

+ The Morning Show has released its season four teaser

+ In this week’s edition of “everything I’ve learned about JoJo Siwa has been against my will”: she is NOT pregnant, despite the rumors but she HAS butchered covered the Kim Carnes song Bette Davis Eyes and for some reason people think her transformation from her rainbow mullet (wig) to trad wife chic is something “no one” has done before

+ Chely Wright reflects on what has and hasn’t changed for queer artists in the 15 years since she came out

+ GALECA has announced their Dorian Award winners for this year’s TV season, where Hacks took home a whopping six wins

+ Survivor Star Parvati Shallow talks about queerness changing the way she saw herself in her new memoir Nice Girls Don’t Win

+ Queer Eye‘s 10th season on Netflix will be its last

+ And last but certainly not least, I leave you with a queer history of The Muppets

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Valerie Anne

Valerie Anne (she/they) a TV-loving, video-game-playing nerd who loves reading, watching, and writing about stories in all forms. While having a penchant for sci-fi, Valerie will watch anything that promises a good story, and especially if that good story is queer.

Valerie has written 657 articles for us.

2 Comments

  1. 1) I feel like everything I learn about jojo siwa is against my will and yet I still cannot escape learning things?!???
    2) I’m SO grateful that my early life was (and continues to be) blissfully un-observed by anyone besides a handful of family members and my fbi agent

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