Shortly after it was revealed that Marvel comics was revealing that the long-running X-Men character Iceman was gay, the actor who played him on-screen, Shawn Ashmore, welcomed the news. Now he’s been talking to IGN, and suggests he’d be very interested to see how they could bring that to the movie version of the character.

He says: “Obviously the comics and movies are separate. I wonder what the transition would be because we’ve sort of established Bobby as having a love interest in Rogue and having a love interest in sort of Kitty Pryde, but I think it’d be really interesting.

“I think it’d probably be the most interesting thing that could happen to Bobby in the films. If they decided to take the story that way, it’d be incredibly dramatic, it’d be an interesting storyline, and it would give Bobby a great character arc. I’d definitely be open to that, but again, I’m not sure if they want to take the character in that direction. I have no idea how they would play that out. I think it’d be very interesting.”

His twin brother, Aaron, has already played a long-running gay character in the sci-fi show Warehouse 13, so perhaps Shawn feels like he’s missing out. At the moment it’s not even known whether we’ll see Shawn on screen as Iceman again, as while he was in Days Of Future Past, the currently announced movies either go back into the past, such as the 1980s set X-Men: Apocalypse, or explore other characters, such as Deadpool, Gambit and Wolverine.

The movies have long flirted with gay themes metaphorically (such as Ben Foster’s Angel in X-Men 3) without ever actually having a properly queer character, so it would be good if they can bring one into the mutant screen universe somewhere.

The gay internet got very excited a couple of days ago when it was revealed that original X-Men character Bobby ‘Iceman’ Drake was set to come out as gay in the latest issue of All-New X-Men.

Many wondered at the time whether this turn of events might one day be followed through in the X-Men film series, and now the actor who has played the character in four of the movies, Shawn Ashmore, has stepped forward to congratulate Iceman and suggest he wouldn’t be averse to Bobby showing he likes boys on screen.

While not suggesting it’s in anyway likely to happen, when it’s said to him that it’s a ‘change of storyline’, he replies, ‘Could be’. He also keen to add, ‘Congrats Bobby! :)’.

However there is one things he’s concerned about, saying ‘Omg there is going to be an onslaught of fanfic!!’

I’m sure many would like Bobby to come out in the movies, although it’s not likely to happen soon.

Bobby’s coming out isn’t unexpected as some ‘shocked’ people have said, as many have pointed out that in the comics the character originally grew up in the 1960s, when being gay was far more difficult than today. There’s also the fact that his main choice of girlfriend, Rogue, was a girl he literally couldn’t touch.

Some have also accuses the comic of biphobia, as in the new comic Bobby says he’s gay, although as a grown up he’s known to be straight. Although this ignores the possibility of his bisexuality, we are talking about the beginning of a storyline involving teenagers who may still be working through their feelings, so it’s a bit early to tell where things are going. [Read more…]