Marvel’s Gwenpool Just Came Out as Asexual. Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool comes out as asexual in Marvel’s Love Unlimited Infinity Comic #47 by Jeremy Whitley, Bailie Rosenlund and Kelly Fitzpatrick.
Marvel’s Gwenpool comes out as asexual in the pages of Love Unlimited Infinity Comic #47.
Love Unlimited Infinity Comic #47 comes from writer Jeremy Whitley, artist Bailie Rosenlund, colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick and letterer VC’s Ariana Maher. The issue, which is the fifth part of a six-issue storyline that began in Love Unlimited Infinity Comic #43, sees Gwenpool trying to figure out her love life after she’s become close with Julie Power/Lightspeed. At one point, Gwen realizes a romantic relationship might not be what she’s looking for and, with some help and support from Julie, comes out as asexual. “I really like you and I want to make you happy,” Gwen tells Julie. “But I can’t make myself want something that I don’t want, and I don’t want to lie to you about wanting it.”
Whitley, Rosenlund and Fitzpatrick discussed Gwen’s coming out in a recent interview with Marvel. “I think, especially with queer characters, there’s this tendency to put relationships up on a pedestal,” Whitley said. “Once you’ve found a person you care about, you do whatever you have to do to preserve that romantic relationship. While it’s an understandable impulse, it’s ultimately an unhealthy one. Denying what you actually want and need is poisonous to any relationship. Julie is a character who has had to find her own path and it has been a winding one—from Power Pack to Avengers Academy to Runaways to Future Foundation. Julie’s had a lot of loss and a few painful breakups. She realizes now the importance of asking for what you need. And, ultimately, recognizing the things you want and don’t want in a relationship is extremely important. For Gwen, that relationship doesn’t include sex. For Julie, it absolutely does. Nobody should be made to feel bad about what they need. It’s okay to value your own happiness above continuing to feed a relationship that’s not fulfilling you.”
Gwenpool first appeared as a hybrid Deadpool/Gwen Stacy character on a variant cover created by Chris Bachalo for 2015’s Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #2. She then made her first full appearance in 2015’s Howard the Duck #1; however, Marvel removed any Gwenpool’s direct ties to Deadpool and Gwen Stacy and instead introduced her as a new character, Gwendolyn Poole, who initially lives in a separate universe before coming to Earth-616.
In Gwen’s universe, the events that occur on Earth-616 are told in comic books, meaning she’s essentially living in a slightly altered version of the real world. Upon arriving in Earth-616 and realizing she’s now a comic book character, Gwen is determined not to be a meaningless extra and instead suits up to become a superhero; although, she grapples with her identity throughout the course of The Unbelievable Gwenpool solo series that began in 2016 as she constantly questions whether fate is calling her to be a hero or a villain.
