This article contains spoilers For "Eyes of Wakanda".

Everyone knows that Achilles are gay. It is 2025. I don't care What Brad Pitt said in 2004But now we live in a different world - a world where, when you see Achilles in something, you need to know immediately looking for a queer representative. So, that's exactly what I did when I saw the famous Greek hero appeared in the episode two of Marvel's new animated series "Eyes of Wakanda".

Now, I know what you are thinking. Achilles and queer stories go hand in hand. But MCU? Type of opposite. Yes, we all wanted "Agatha all together", What is probably the most explicit, canonical, interesting presentation of queer in the franchise to date. But in addition, Oeo Rousseau's crunchy kimo in "Avengers: Endgame" and a few pins of pride you need to reduce to see them? It's a slim choice.

At this point, most fans of queer like me know that Disney's great properties are unlikely to be a place to look for a real idea or interesting queer stories. It is necessary Real terrace Dana to use gay blood from that special stone. But I am nothing if not a stupidity for punishment, which means that in this particular context, I will still make a jump to connect to the dots for pieces of progressive storytelling stories.

The "Eyes of Wakanda" episode gives more points to connect than we usually get. The story takes place during the literal Trojan War and the stars Achilles (Adam Gold) and his close friend Memon (Larry Feron), known as B'Akai in his native Wakanda. Historians will say they were just roommates, but we know better.

In most ways, the episode 2 of Wakanda's eyes recreates the standard blows of the Trojan War quite true. Odysseus schemes, Pram hides and the Greeks fail again and again in trying to break the city. Their biggest weapon is an elite team led by Achilles and Memon, who is a secret agent of Wakanda sent to recover A. Vibranium artifact held by Helen by Troy. His friendship with Achilles, however, is deeply realistic.

There is no patrol in this story. Writers have conveniently cleared the runway on all other probably Love Bowl interests. And until we get a kiss or declaration of LoveBow between the two, we get loads For knowledge of views, filled exchanges and gorgeous footage. "Thank you for being here," Achilles said after a particularly emotional conversation. Later, he insists that Memon takes a pendant he received from his mother - a sign of his, uh, friendship, for sure. "For everything you did," he says when Memon says he is too much. "For everything We They went through. "

Of course, B'Akai's true mission and loyalty to Wakanda lead him to betray Achilles - or at least, so he sees the Greek. They fight, and when Achilles refuses to betray the vibranium artifact, Memon hits him dead, holding his tinted body gently. "Was everything a lie?" Achilles wonders with his last breath? And we know what he really means. "Not everything," Memon responds, tears in the eyes.

Tragic story, and of course, something very Greek too. Only Lubotnik can make you feel so betrayed. It is so obvious, looking at the story as a fans of queer, for which writers and performers go here. Again, this is Achilles. He is basically the patron of the literary gay at this point. You don't choose that character for this kind of story. You do it because it means.

And, what does this mean, unfortunately, it's still quite unusual. To be clear, I don't think this particular story needed a pure kiss or explicit statements about Ubov. The subtlety is beautiful. But it is the knowledge that the creators would have to fight their teeth and nails for any of those things that gives me a break. When your franchise barely ever features canonical soup, subtlety only sometimes supports that suppression - even if it would do well. At this point, I'm tired of filling the gaps, and I think many queer fans feel the same. You can only push the Loveube on the margins so much before that marginalization becomes the national team itself. If you only ever hide these relationships, then you implicitly say that they are things to hide.

I know that Wakanda, as a concept, is an inherent political idea. In these repressive times, I do not ask the black creators to go to the bat for any kind of diversity at once. At the same time, it is unfortunate to realize that the implied miracle can be the only norm we ever get from the Disney machine. "Agatha all together" seemed to be not a blow to the door that they might have hoped.