Marvel Reportedly Cancelled a Show Because It Was Deemed 'Too Gay'
Once again, Marvel’s barely-disguised homophobia has reared its ugly head.
In a series of now-deleted tweets, a former Marvel showrunner said that his TV series was cancelled by an exec because it was deemed “too gay,” according to PinkNews.
Kevin Biegel, a writer who was set to work on New Warriors, a proposed Freeform show focusing on young heroes like Squirrel Girl, Mister Immortal, Night Thrasher, Speedball, Microbe, and Debrii, tweeted about the show we never got to see. And he’s not happy about it.
After the show’s pilot got a great response from those who saw it, Freeform cancelled the show, saying they didn’t have room for New Warriors in their schedule. But according to Biegel, who was the series’ showrunner, there was another reason the show never made it to air.
“There’s a show we wrote a few years ago,” Biegel wrote in a series of since-deleted tweets. “It was very proudly gay. A singular power-that-be killed the show. Because it was too gay. A rich, straight, Brentwood turd. He got fired for being vile at his company. We, on the other hand, live. #NewWarriors.”
Biegel also shared some behind-the-scenes images from the show, showing Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl, as well as photos of the ensemble cast and some lines from the script, including one where a character describes herself as “Black. Queer. Powered.”
“I have nights where I can’t fall asleep because I get so mad we couldn't have characters say stuff like this,” he said about the line.
The tweets got fans wondering who the “rich, straight, Brentwood turd” is, and while many guessed Jeph Loeb, who was fired after being accused of racism on Iron Fist and the other Marvel shows he ran, though Biegel clarified he was not talking about Loeb.
That means its likely we don’t have a queer New Warriors show due to Ike Perlmutter, the former vice chairman of Marvel Entertainment who also was the center of racist controversies while at the company and has donated heavily to Donald Trump. Thankfully, Perlmutter is no longer in power at Marvel.
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