A Black, Queer Marvel: Shea Couleé Joins the Cast of Ironheart
Drag Race meets the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars 5 Shea Couleé is officially a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) according to sources at Deadline. Couleé has landed a “secret role” in the upcoming MCU project and Disney+ series Ironheart.
Ironheart follows the story of inventor RiRi Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, who builds a suit the most advanced since Tony Stark’s (Iron Man himself). While we don’t know much about the series so far, we know we’ll see RiRi Williams in the upcoming Black Panther sequel and we’re sure that’ll give us a glimpse into where we’ll see her in the show. While Couleé’s role is still unknown and we don’t know what the size of the role will be, I am very excited to see Shea casted in such a project from a big studio like Marvel and Disney.
Forever we have been fighting more and more for media to truly reflect the Black experience, and more and more we’ve seen that happening. With Marvel specifically we had our superhero renaissance with Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018, and now we have a Black Captain America film on the way, the sequels to both Black Panther and Into the Spider-Verse, even more series, and more and more Black characters being introduced into the MCU. But for me one thing has been missing, Black queer content.
Shea Couleé being introduced to the MCU is changing that. And when thinking about what this means, having Couleé be the one to jump from Drag Race to MCU has me filled with pride. While the Black queer experience has had its time to shine in niche markets, it has still been neglected in mainstream media even by other Black people. And the hope is that with Couleé being in the MCU, one of the biggest franchises in the world, the Black queer experience will enter the greater lexicon of societal consciousness and media.
I have been a fan of Shea Couleé’s over the years and the essence of her drag is “a love letter to Black women,” and through her presentation and fashion is shows. Black is at the core of Couleé’s drag, which for me and what makes her drag so important. And I didn’t think I would ever see these two worlds collide but the Black, queer Marvel fan in me is elated to hear this news. I hope that Couleé is more than just a background character with a quippy line every now and then, but either way seeing Shea Couleé on my screen while streaming Ironheart on Disney+ come Fall 2023 will make me proud enough.
