(Marvel and Twitter)

Marvel films don’t have many LGBT superheroes to look up to.

Unlike 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool series, which now includes a kick-ass lesbian couple, the pansexual Deadpool and Shatterstar, a bisexual, polyamorous superhero, Marvel has been reticent to feature any LGBT characters.

Marvel has attracted criticism for its extreme reluctance to include LGBT people in its films.

A scene in Thor: Ragnarok confirming that superhero Valkyrie was bisexual was shot, but mysteriously edited out.

The Black Panther comics have depicted a lesbian relationship between warriors Ayo and Aneka – but a scene hinting at the romance was dumped from Ryan Coogler’s 2018 film adaptation.

And Star Wars execs are more than happy to encourage queer fans’ speculation about a romance between fan favourites Finn and Poe – while they rush to introduce heterosexual love interests.

So it makes sense that LGBT Marvel fans would use their boundless creativity to create an icon who can fill the gap.

And that icon, it turns out, is Thor, our very own god of thunder.

There seems to be some disagreement over whether Thor is a lesbian or simply a lesbian ally, but either way, it’s a beautiful development among an underrepresented portion of the fandom.

One person explained the phenomenon, saying: “thor is an honorary lesbian icon but none of us dykelings can explain why.

“All we know is that he is the One Safe Man that all lesbians dance around like maenads and that’s just the way it is.”

Another fan wrote: “feminist and lesbian warrior, thor odinson.”

They clarified their thinking, writing: “2012 fanfic thor who did nothing but raid tony’s fridge for poptarts vs 2018 canon thor who is now a lesbian ally and summons thunder as applause for women everywhere,” before calling on others to “rt ur character development kink.”

Another person used pictures of rainbows and lightning bolts to prove their point, saying: “Thor, lesbian icon showing his approval and support, 2018.”

That checks out.

Another fan insisted that Thor was “pure, soft, unproblematic, doesn’t get into petty fights, cute as f**k, has gay emo siblings, cinnamon roll will fuck u up, lesbian rights, threw the first stonewall brick.”

One of those seems historically inaccurate, but we’ll let it slide.

The “gay emo” comment surely refers to the fact that Thor’s half-sister in the comics, Angela, is a lesbian, while his brother Loki is canonically pansexual and genderfluid.

Another used a popular meme format to describe a conversation in which Thor talks to Bruce Banner – also known as the Hulk – about being called a lesbian god in New York.

One showed “Thor supporting the whole lesbian community.”

And another smartly theorised that “the girls who asked thor for a photo back in thor: ragnarok were actually a lesbian couple and that’s why thor is THE ultimate ally and loved by all lesbians thank you for coming to my ted talk.”

Another person wrote that Thor was “MY god of thunder,” “respects women,” a “lesbian ally” and has “good entrances,” whereas Greek god Zeus, in their words, was a “fuccboi,” “the root of every issue” and a “meninist.”

And if you don’t get where these fans are coming from, you may be in trouble.

One fan explained that “people who don’t understand the thor is a lesbian meme are weak and won’t survive the winter.”