GOT’s Kit Harington calls out Marvel for lack of gay actors

Kit Harington, best known for the role of Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, has spoken out about the lack of openly gay actors in the Marvel superhero movies.

Harington made the comments at an event at the Toronto Film Festival, reported Variety. The actor, who is himself straight, is promoting his new movie, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, in which he plays a closeted gay actor.

“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 super hero. I mean, when is that going to happen?” he asked.

His co-star in the film Thandie Newton (Westworld) added: “It is changing, but we have to get behind those changes and keep pushing it.”

While big screen superhero movies, including those based on the Marvel and DC universes, have had very limited LGBT representation and few openly LGBT stars (an exception is bisexual Thor: Ragnarok star Tessa Thompson), things are better on the small screen.

In July, transgender actress and activist Nicole Maines was cast as television’s first transgender superhero. She will play the role of Nia Nal, aka Dream Girl, in the fourth season of the series Supergirl.

And more recently, it was announced that out Australian actress Ruby Rose will play Batwoman in what is anticipated to be the first live action superhero series with a lesbian lead character. The Batwoman character will initially appear in existing DC superhero shows, such as The Flash and Arrow, in December, before (hopefully) featuring in her own standalone series next year.