Celebrated British actress/writer Michaela Coel (“I May Destroy You,” “Chewing Gum”) joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.
In a new interview with Vogue, she revealed the main reason for playing her character of Dora Milaje captain and combat instructor Anekain the project – the character is queer.
Coel says: “That sold me on the role, the fact that my character’s queer. I thought: I like that, I want to show that to Ghana.” In the film, her character is reportedly in love with fellow warrior Ayo (Florence Kasumba).
Coel was born and raised in East London, but her parents hail from Ghana – a country with strict anti-LGBTQ laws dating back to the colonial era and one which is reportedly currently overseeing a new bill calling for even more oppressive laws to be enacted.
Coel says: “People say, ‘Oh, it’s fine, it’s just politics.’ But I don’t think it is just politics when it affects how people get to live their daily lives. That’s why it felt important for me to step in and do that [‘Black Panther 2’] role because I know just by my being Ghanaian, Ghanaians will come.”
This won’t mark the first openly gay hero in the MCU, that being Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos in “Eternals”.
Emmy-winner Coel stars alongside Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett, Dominique Thorne and Tenoch Huerta.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opens in theaters November 11th.
Source: Variety
