Kit Harington wants better queer representation from Marvel, bless him

Listen up, Marvel, the King in the North has a task for you. While promoting his upcoming film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Game of Thrones star Kit Harington questioned the lack of queer representation in superhero movies – on and off screen, Variety reports.

“There’s a big problem with masculinity and homosexuality that they can’t somehow go hand in hand,” Harington said. “That we can’t have someone in a Marvel movie who’s gay in real life and plays some superhero. I mean, when is that going to happen?”

His costar, Westworld's Thandie Newton, echoed the sentiment with regard to hypermasculinity and homophobia in sports as well as entertainment.

“It is changing, but we have to get behind those changes and keep pushing it,” Newton said.

Harington's comments are valid, but he also directed them at Marvel instead of his own multi-million dollar screen kingdom. Thrones has had maybe two explicitly gay characters, both of whom are now dead in the show's canon, as are those who identified as sexually fluid. His own character's straightness is kind of uncomfortable to watch.

But Harington's critique is specific to the sexualities of actors, not characters. Casting processes often restrict disclosing such information, but gay actors still experience prejudice in Hollywood. Straight actors often portray gay characters — a practice quickly earning scrutiny — so it seems unfair that the reverse occurs so rarely.

Thrones has also come under fire for its lack of racial diversity and poor response to that criticism — are people of color really considered "inaccurate" in a world where ice zombies ride reanimated dragons? There are more black Avengers than characters of color in all of Thrones.

All that said, Thrones is effectively finished, so it probably isn't worth Harington's time (or residuals) to beat a dead, zombified horse. Once free of Westeros, he can join Marvel fans as we scream for Stucky — and for the inclusion of non-white and LGBTQIA+ representation throughout Hollywood.

Welcome, Kit. It's nice over here.