RUMOR: Next Week's Episode Of Runaways May Feature A Number Of Historic Firsts For The MCU

Obviously, spoilers and potential spoilers for the first season of Marvel's Runaways are below.

Throughout the course of the show thus far, it's become clear that Karolina Dean (played by Virginia Gardner) is very evidently not straight. As comic fans know, the character is a lesbian, and between Gert's prodding questions and her very enenthused reaction to being kissed by Chase without being asked, it's no real surprise that it seems Karolina is poised to become Marvel's first openly LGBT lead character in the near future, as opposed to previous instances in the MCU where such charactrs have taken secondary roles (such as Jeri Hogarth and Joey Gutierrez, of Jessica Jones and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D respectively) or had their comic-canon sexual orientation go unmentioned (such as Loki, Valkyrie, and Korg in Thor: Ragnarok). According to reports from critic screenings, however, that in next week's episode, the matter will be settled, but the way in which it is settled is also bound to be interesting to many.

The report is that, during a party during next week's episode, Karolina and fellow Runaway Nico will kiss (twice, in fact!) during a sequence set to the song Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish. The report predates when the official preview materials for the 9th episode were officially released, which showcased the cast in very formal attire, which would fit well within the "party" scene described above, which would be a very specific event to simply guess correctly.

If this is the case, this would be another of the show's deviations from the comics, as Nico Minoru is not openly bisexual at any point in the comics history. Similar to Karolina, this would also make Nico the MCU's first openly bisexual lead (though Tessa Thompson stated that her Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok had her bisexual nature in the comics in mind), though one must wonder what this might mean for Alex Wilder and his current relationship with Nico in the show.