Posted in: Comics | Tagged: al ewing, gender fluid, jamie mckelvie, kieron gillen, lee garbett, LGBTQ, loki, loki laufeyson, loki: agent of asgard, mackenzi lee, marvel, novels, pansexual, representation matters, YA novels, young avengers
Loki to be Pansexual/Gender Fluid in New Marvel Anti-Hero Books
Loki, Marvel's go to villain besides Thanos of late and certainly the most popular complex bad guy from the films, will be presented as pansexual and genderfluid in a new series of Marvel novels coming in 2019, according to the series' author.
Mackenzi Lee will be writing the book series, which will focus on Marvel's anti-heroes, starting with the Asgardian God of Mischief themselves, Loki Laufeyson.
Lee, writer of 2017 New York Times Best-Selling novel The Gentlemen's Guide to Vice and Virtue will pen the three book historical-fiction series, each looking at the life and times of a particular Marvel anti-hero. When the author was asked if Loki would be presented as queer in her novels via twitter, the author responded:
Here is what I can say: Loki is a canonically pansexual and gender fluid character. So.
Of course, this being twitter and involving comics fandom, some fan took umbrage with the suggestion that the shape-shifting god could be presented as pansexual and gender fluid of all things. The upset fan said, "I don't mind if there is evidence to support this claim. But I have a problem if the LGBT want to say he is just so they can feel represented".
Lee responded quite knowledgeably on the matter:
First, it's about time the LGBT+ community was represented in superhero narratives.
Second, in the comics, Loki is reborn as a woman & uses female pronouns & often takes on female forms like the Scarlet Witch and Lady Sif. Odin calls him "my child who is both." So,
As Lee states, there is plenty of comics evidence to back up the claim, and also evidence in the source Norse myths. Loki is a shapeshifter, and has shown themselves happy to exist as either gender a few times, sometimes with an ulterior motive and sometimes just for funsies. Similarly, in the Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's Young Avengers run, he stated how Asgardians didn't have concepts like straight and gay, and so such things don't factor into his own sexuality.
In Al Ewing and Lee Garbett's Loki: Agent of Asgard, Loki changed shape and gender a few times.
Sadly, readers have a little while to wait for these adventures of the pansexual, gender fluid Loki, as the series isn't looking to be released until 2019.