Agatha All Along makes history with Marvel's first proper lesbian kiss

1 November 2024, 14:06

Marvel's Agatha All Along has made history. Picture: Marvel

By Capital Buzz

Marvel’s Agatha All Along has made history by airing their first proper lesbian kiss in a nail-biting series climax.

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Marvel's Agatha All Along has just made MCU history by including the franchise's first major lesbian kiss between Kathryn Hahn's Agatha and Aubrey Plaza's Rio.

Since debuting in September, the WandaVision spin-off has become an absolute must-watch with fans and critics alike hailing it as one of Marvel's best TV shows.

Starring Kathryn Hahn, Heartstopper's Joe Locke, Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, the limited series was teased as "the gayest project Marvel has ever done" – and the cast agreed, with Aubrey saying there'll be a “gay explosion by the end of it.”

And they weren't wrong. Agatha All Along has an unprecedented amount of LGBTQ+ representation including queer actors (Joe, Sasheer, Aubrey) as well as prominent queer characters in Teen (a.k.a. Billy) and former lovers Agatha and Rio.

In the final episodes of the series, the show delivers on its promise with a full-on kiss between Agatha and Rio and fans are living for it.

Kathryn Hahn stars as Agatha. Picture: Getty

With the bar raised and fan expectations set, this time Marvel had no plans to disappoint. In the past, the MCU has been criticised for being “behind the times” in terms of gay representation, something Joe Locke himself spoke about to publications such as Digital Spy.

Throughout Agatha All Along, there's plenty of hints that Agatha is not straight and in episode 7, she confirms as such when she says: "If you want straight answers, ask a straight lady". The series also scattered several moments of magical chemistry between Agatha and Rio throughout, hinting at a past romantic relationship.

In episode eight, when Agatha and Teen reach the end of The Witches' Road, Agatha and Rio (who is literally Death) face off in a huge battle. Right at the end, Agatha and Rio share an epic and passionate kiss.

The historic kiss was a way for Agatha to sacrifice herself to save Billy. Knowing it would kill her, Agatha succumbed to death, kissing Rio one last time before dying.

Agatha and Rio share a kiss in episode eight. Picture: Marvel

And thus history was made, with Agatha and Rio now becoming the first major lesbian kiss to air in a Marvel project. There's still several other LGBTQ+ characters who exist in the MCU but none have seen such major queer moments like this in their own films.

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it was the queerness of Michaela Coel’s character Aneka that drew her to the role. However, a full-on kiss between her and Florence Kasumba's Ayo was completely cut from the film. Instead, the film included Aneka kissing Ayo on the forehead.

Again in Thor: Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who is canonically bisexual in the comics and the films, had a scene cut that showed a woman leaving her apartment. Director Taika Waititi told The i that it got cut because “people were just so confused”. He added: “We should have just had her [Valkyrie] come out and kiss her”.

In Eternals, Brian Tyree Henry's character Phastos was the first superhero to be depicted as gay in an MCU film. His husband and children are included in the movie, but unfortunately, fans won’t get to see any more of that as the sequel has reportedly been scrapped.

Michaela Coel's character Aneka is canonically queer. Picture: Marvel

To see such a beautifully full scene between Agatha and Rio was meaningful to anyone who watched it, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, some of whom took to X/Twitter to celebrate.

“I stood up and applauded in my room alone,” one wrote. Meanwhile, another exclaimed: “Oh let’s goo lesbians finally!!”

The overall positive response has faced only the smallest bit of critique, in that Agatha’s act of love leads to her death and some fans have complained about the show falling into the common ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope.

A trope that often sees LGBTQ+ characters immediately die after finally taking steps towards their own happiness and a small number of fans are upset that the story of Agatha and Rio will end as yet “another tragic sapphic ending.”