Is Deadpool Gay? Pansexual Superhero Celebrated By LGBTQ Despite Mental Disorder Being The Official Cause
If Deadpool is gay, then his condition is apparently just a momentary lapse in Wade Wilson’s boggled brain. The Marvel character is certainly known for creating awkward moments, but in this case busting that fourth wall closet wide open is probably not something the LGBTQ community may to want openly endorse. After all, even if Ryan Reynolds ends up playing the first major pansexual character in movie theaters by giving Deadpool a boyfriend, the official explanation for Deadpool’s queerness would be a mental disorder caused by his particular brain disease, which is not exactly politically correct nowadays.
Depending on whom you ask, Deadpool is bisexual, omnisexual, or pansexual, despite the fact that Deadpool is usually lusting after hot women, especially the Golden Girls‘ Bea Arthur (no, really). Many fans believe Deadpool is simply messing with the heads of other male characters, with this scene featuring Thor being a prime example.
It was not until Conan O’Brean came on the scene that anyone suspected otherwise in recent times.
“I love that about Deadpool,” Reynolds told Variety. “I love that he can break any boundary. In the future, I hope we get to do that more. I certainly wouldn’t be the guy standing in the way of that.”
But is Deadpool gay or not based upon the official stance by Marvel? The character was created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Niceieza many years ago, but Deadpool’s sexual orientation did not really get an official definition until 2015, after a fan essay attempted to prove the point.
In response to the essay, Niceieza was fairly dismissive on Twitter.
“Sorry, but anyone who writes such an extended column trying to ‘prove’ Deadpool’s sexuality does not understand Deadpool’s sexuality,” he tweeted out. “Not trying to be dismissive, but readers always want to ‘make a character their own’ and often that is to the exclusion of what the character might mean to other fans. I’ve been dogged with the DP sexuality questions for years. It is a bit tiring.”
Needless to say, Deadpool fans immediately jumped on the response, demanding to know more details. After all, current Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan had previously claimed Deadpool is “ready and willing to do anything with a pulse.” (Does that exclude Bea Arthur? Sorry, bad joke, but this is a Deadpool article after all.)
But the way Niceieza described Deadpool’s sexuality raised the hackles of some fans since he said Deadpool’s “brain cells [are] in constant flux so he is hetero one minute, gay the next.” As in, Deadpool can change his sexuality.
“It is why he is insane, why his memory is so flawed, and why he was able to survive the cancer in his system,” Niceieza said in respond to those who began arguing with him. “It is why he can like something one minute and hate it the next. It has always been a part of the character’s makeup.”
According to the American Psychiatric Association, homosexuality was a mental illness until 1974, when the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) was updated in response to multiple APA protests from LGBTQ activists in San Francisco. Obviously, this means it’s hardly politically correct for Deadpool’s mental disorder to be the cause of his abrupt changes in sexuality.
In response to these criticisms, Nicieza hinted the LGBTQ community should find a different superhero character to link to their cause.
“I understand your fight, but you’re choosing the wrong character to fight for and the wrong writer to fight with. I have spent 30 years in this business writing diverse characters and hiring diverse creators. Character has been around since 1992. He is who he has ALWAYS been and this is it. understand it and hopefully accept it or pick a better character to rally behind. I’ll be fighting with you.”
Do you think Deadpool 2 should make Deadpool gay/pansexual?
[Image via Marvel Studios]
