Marvel is spreading the word about Avengers: Endgame far and wide, as if the movie needs it, and doing his role to promote it is co-director Joe Russo. This is looking to be the final Marvel movie for the Russos as they move on to direct and produce other projects, but for now the focus is on the big finale to ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe adventures. Russo was in India chatting up the film and he tackled a couple of topics close to the hearts of fans: the possible arrival of Marvel’s first LGBTQ superhero, and working with the legendary Stan Lee one final time.
There have been rumors of Chloe Zhao’s The Eternals possibly featuring Marvel’s first openly gay male lead, and those stories continue to swirl without confirmation. As of now the only casting that seems to be in place, or nearly in place, is Angelina Jolie which is a pretty damn good place to start. When asked whether Marvel was considering an LGBTQ character, Russo responded with “One hundred percent and you will see one very soon.”
Whether Russo is referring to The Eternals or another of Marvel’s films is unclear, but as they continue to break diversity barriers this is one area that’s time has definitely come.
Depending on how you look at it, Russo then either cleared up or muddied the question of Stan Lee’s final appearances in the MCU. When asked about working with Stan “The Man”, Russo added “I believe that his final cameo is in Endgame. I don’t remember if he was well enough to do the cameo in [Far From Home] or not.”
Just last month Kevin Feige was saying Lee had “shot a couple” of cameos before his untimely passing. One of those would be in Endgame and that places Spider-Man: Far From Home as the last time we’d see him pop up randomly in a Marvel movie.
Perhaps Marvel saw Endgame as the appropriate place for Lee’s final cameo. It marks the end of an era, just as Lee’s death marks the end of an era for generations of comic book fans who grew up idolizing his work and the many characters he helped create. [via Pinkvilla]
