Culture

Colton Haynes is the latest gay star throwing his hat into the ring to play queer X-Men superhero Iceman

Colton Haynes X-Men Iceman

Colton Haynes (Getty) and Iceman (Marvel)

Colton Haynes has thrown his hat into the ring to play X-Men‘s queer superhero Iceman following rumours that Shia LeBeouf is being considered for the part.

The rumoured casting of LeBeouf as Iceman has had a mixed response in the LGBT+ community, with many calling on the studio to cast a gay actor.

A number of queer actors have been nominated – including Scott Evans, brother of Captain America star Chris Evans, who acknowledged the controversy in a tweet – and now Haynes has put himself forward.

The Arrow star expressed his interest in playing the iconic character by tweeting a GIF of Iceman along with an emoji of a raised hand.

And to say fans are excited about the idea is an understatement.

Colton Haynes threw his hat into the ring to play Iceman after Shia LeBeouf was rumoured for the part.

In Marvel Comics, Iceman is one of the most prominent queer superheroes – and his sexuality could finally be represented on-screen following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, meaning they now own the rights to X-Men.

Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, has confirmed that the MCU’s take on the mutants will be “quite different” to the previous series, and is said to be working on a plan to introduce the X-Men to his carefully calibrated world.

A teenaged version of Iceman, displaced in time, came out as gay in an April 2015 issue of All-New X-Men after Jean Grey read his mind.

A later issue saw the teen Iceman confront his older, still closeted self, who admitted he didn’t want to be gay or a mutant.

Iceman was then given his own series which focused on him coming to terms with his identity and his legacy as a superhero.

Iceman was portrayed by Shawn Ashmore in the original X-Men films.

Marvel has reportedly been trying to cast LeBeouf for some time.

LeBeouf has been rumoured for some time to be in contention for the part of Marvel anti-hero Moon Knight, according to We Got This Covered, but producers are reportedly “keen” to cast him as Iceman now.

Marvel reportedly sees the role as a chance to bring LeBeouf “into the fold while still easing him back into the big budget environment that he’s previously sworn off”, We Got This Covered wrote.

Rumours suggest that Marvel will introduce other key X-Men characters one-by-one before staging an Avengers style team-up.

None of the cast has yet been announced, but Pose star Dominique Jackson has thrown her hat into the ring to play Storm. 

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