Queer love or Queerbaiting? Taika Waititi both praised and slammed for ‘Thor 4’

Queer allyship or Queerbaiting? This is what’s being discussed after filmmaker, actor and comedian Taika Waititi recently shared that he loves telling Queer stories. 

The director, star, and co-writer of the new Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder has started to be known for his LGBTQ stories. In both the the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death and in the latest Thor film, he plays Queer charcters who get to fall in love with other Queer charcaters. Some find this absolutely admirable, while others have accused him of Queerbaiting for brownie points. 

According to FandomWire, fans have been blasting claims that he Waititi and actresses Natalie Portman and tessa Thompson have reportedly made that Thor 4 is “super gay.” Despite the claims of those involved in the film, fans feel that the representation is quite meager and just not that remarkable or noteworthy. As expected, many took to Twitter to discuss how unmoved they were. 

But whether Thor 4 is really that gay or not, the question for many is: Why does Waititi feel so compelled to tell these kinds of stories? Well, according to Out Magazine, Waititi feels he can relate to them on a personal level, despite not identifying as Queer himself. 

“We’re all queer,” Waititi tells Out when asked why he likes telling LGBTQ+ love stories so much. “Just to varying degrees of where we are on the [sexuality] spectrum I think. I think, innately, humans have all got some degree of queerness in them.”

He goes on to say: “With Thor, it’s great to be able to finally get Tessa’s character, and my character as well, where we’re both queer.” 

According to Out, Tessa Thompson’s character Valkarie gets to show her Queerness through a heart-to-heart conversation about same-sex rleationships and heartbreak, while Korg, the character that Waititi voices, gets to talk about how much he likes seeing Thor naked, his past relationship with another man, and even participating in what could be called Marvel’s first on-screen gay wedding.

When asked about his newfound place as a Queer icon, Waititi replied, “I never really imagined it. I mean never imagined it. No, it just wasn’t something I imagined, but what drew me to Our Flag Means Death was the love story between Blackbeard and Stede.”

So, what say ye? Queer representaion and allyship or Queerbaiting? Let us know in the comments!