“Suga, what is different, what is normal?” posited voice actress Lenore Zann during preview night at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, affecting the Southern twang of her X-Men character Rogue. “I mean, if everybody was exactly the same, cookie cutter, how boring would the world be?”
Although Zann was discussing why X-Men is still relevant three decades after the animated series first aired, she could have just as easily been describing the vibe of SDCC 2024. As she spoke, cosplay-clad nerds passed by, often defying expectations of race and gender: A statuesque muscle stud assumed the mantel of the Pink Power Ranger. A drag queen fabulously reinvented the persona of Dream from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. A Black man rocked out his version of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.
“I love the fact that the X-Men stand for everybody being themselves,” Zann continued, “and being accepted and being loved or themselves, and that’s why I’m proud to be an X-Man.”
It’s worth noting that when the X-Men animated series debuted in 1992, television suffered from a severe dearth of LGBTQ+ representation. But it had these queer-coded Children of the Atom, powerful yet persecuted people who created their own chosen families. Earlier this year, these now-grown Gen X and Millennial gaybies were treated to X-Men ’97, a continuation of the iconic cartoon. Most notable of the new season was the Emmy-nominated episode “Remember It,” which featured a Pulse Nightclub massacre incident executed on the level of 9/11. It’s a grim reminder of the importance of representation.
Fortunately, not all the LGBTQ+ representation was this angsty. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman headlined a panel for their new movie Deadpool & Wolverine, which featured Marvel’s premiere pansexual “Merc with a Mouth.” In addition to Reynolds and Jackman’s innate homoeroticism, the film ups the ante on queerness by featuring Madonna’s gay anthem ‘Like A Prayer,’ similar to how the previous Deadpool installment incorporated Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5.’
It’s somewhat apropos that Zann ended her interview by unintentionally referencing the Material Girl.
“The X-Men stand for it’s okay to be yourself, to express yourself.”
For those who missed the cavalcade of queerness that is Comic Con, we snatched some of our favorite cosplay moments from SDCC 2024.
