In celebration of Star Wars Day this May 4th, Marvel has unveiled seven special edition Stars Wars Pride Variant covers that will decorate their popular Star Wars comics this coming Pride Month. The covers build on recent, if gradual and occasionally unsteady, progress within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their parent company Disney regarding LGBTQ+ representation. This has included the introduction of a lesbian character in Pixar’s Onward, a gay romance and gay lead in Marvel’s Eternals, and the refusal to censor a lesbian reference in Doctor Strange 2 for Middle Eastern audiences after backlash from the Saudia Arabian film board. Although Marvel comics themselves have historically had a much more consistent track record on LGBTQ+ representation, with canonically queer superheroes and romances having appeared in the comics since the 1990s, the announcement still comes as an important new chapter in Marvel’s self-avowed and on-going commitment to “uplifting, honoring, and supporting LGBTQIA+ storytelling.”
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