Marvel has announced plans to release Marvel United: A Pride Special this June in conjunction with Pride Month. The anthology will feature four stories “celebrating LGBTQIA+ creators and characters” and is a return to an anthology that calls out “Pride” in the title, something they received criticism for last year.
In 2024, Marvel received criticism for X-Men: The Wedding Special, which replaced the usual Marvel’s Voices: Pride special they published for three years prior. While the content was similar to a Pride anthology, as it featured multiple stories about LGBTQIA+ characters in addition to the main story about Mystique and Destiny’s wedding, dropping “Pride” from the title came at a time when many companies were facing backlash for their Pride activities. Everyone from Target to Budweiser were being raked over the coals by conservative groups, and many felt that it looked like Marvel was backing away from potential backlash of their own. Add to that, last year also brought a line of “ally” covers that did not go over well for the publisher, as it looked like they were putting a focus on straight characters during Pride Month.
(I should note that Marvel does have plans for a line of Pride Month variant covers again this year, but they have not revealed them yet. Hopefully they are a bit more dynamic than last year’s covers).
Now, a year later, the political climate in the U.S. has shifted even more to the right, with “DEI” activities under attack from the current administration and many companies backing away from the term and the support they showed in the past. LGBTQIA+ citizens, particularly trans people, are the target of executive orders and proposed laws on the state and national level seeking to limit their rights. Marvel’s parent company, Disney, was one of many companies that announced changes to their DEI practices earlier this year, though last week their shareholders also pushed back against deeper changes that were being suggested by a conservative thinktank, like pulling out of the Corporate Equality Index run by the Human Rights Campaign.
It looks like Marvel is taking the criticism they received last year to heart in a year when many companies are reconsidering their DEI-focused activities across the board. So kudos to them for that; now let’s get back to the comic itself …
Here’s what to expect from the quartet of stories:
- Al Ewing and Kei Zama’s story is about Aaron Fischer, the Captain America of the Railways, as he battles the Hate-Monger.
- Arnie Roth, a childhood friend of Steve Rogers who is said to be the first openly gay character to appear in a superhero comic, will fight alongside Captain America against Hydra in a story “about the past that will reshape the future.” It’s by Anthony Oliveira and Pablo Collar.
- Following last’s year Pride special, which featured Mystique and Destiny’s marriage, author Wyatt Kennedy and artist Bayleigh Underwood catch up with the couple in a story that co-stars their son, Nightcrawler.
- Writer Zoe Tunnell (Blade Maidens) makes her Marvel debut alongside artist Federica Mancin “for a Black Cat heist gone haywire as the super thief finds herself alongside heavenly hero Sera in a dark battle against the fear-inducing demon D’Spayre.”
Here’s a look at the special’s variant covers by Jan Bazaldua, Ernanda Souza, Luciano Vecchio and Rickie Yagawa:
Marvel United: A Pride Special arrives in stores June 4.