Drag Race icon Shea Couleé to sashay into Marvel Cinematic Universe
Shea Coulee attends the “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” In Conversation With Ben Platt at 92Y on May 09, 2022 in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty)
RuPaul’s Drag Race icon Shea Couleé didn’t come to play – she came to slay the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Fresh from her run on All Stars 7, Shea Couleé has been cast in the Disney+ series Ironheart.
She’ll play an unconfirmed role, starring alongside Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart, Deadline reported on Wednesday (3 August).
Shea confirmed the report in a tweet, saying: “BEYOND excited to be strutting out of the werkroom right into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Words cannot express how excited I am to be part of this amazing project!”
The non-binary All Stars 5 winner will be serving Marvel realness in the show when it premieres in 2023.
Fans couldn’t be happier with the reveal, with the official RuPaul’s Drag Race Twitter account and Marvel star Jameela Jamil joining in with congratulations.
“Shea Couleé stans we rise,” one person added.
Another Drag Race fan said: “Me not knowing a damn thing about Marvel but loving you and supporting you always”.
WOW, congrats babe! ⭐️?
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) August 3, 2022
???????????— Jameela Jamil ? (@jameelajamil) August 3, 2022
Me not knowing a damn thing about marvel but loving you and supporting you always pic.twitter.com/hR6yDbw6hS— ✨ (@heyjaeee) August 3, 2022
Shea Couleé first competed on Drag Race on season 9 of the reality show, coming in third/fourth place alongside Trinity the Tuck.
She later won All Stars 5 and recently competed on the all-winners season, All Stars 7.
Ironheart will arrive as part of Marvel’s upcoming Phase Five.
It will follow teenage genius Riri Williams, who designs a suit of armour to rival that of Iron Man.
Thorne will debut as Williams in the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which will also feature Michaeal Coel as queer warrior Aneka.
In the Marvel comics, Aneka is the combat instructor of the Dora Milaje, the elite all-female special forces of Wakanda.
Notably, she has an enemies-to-lovers romance with Ayo, played by Florence Kasumba in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Ayo has appeared in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
It is unclear whether Aneka and Ayo’s romance will appear in the upcoming film. But hopefully Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won’t fall into the same trap as Thor: Love and Thunder, which disappointed fans after its LGBTQ+ content was over-hyped.
