The "Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo revealed on SiriusXM this week that an existing character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is gay.

"There is a gay character coming up in one of their films, and I think Kevin will make that announcement I'm sure pretty soon," Joe said, referring to Kevin Feige, the Marvel Studios president.

Disney has been criticized for "straightwashing" Marvel characters in the past, especially since many are queer in the comics.

Now fans are mocking the Russo brothers for the underwhelming announcement after 22 blockbuster films with no LGBTQ representation.

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The "Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo recently revealed that an existing character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is gay — but fans in LGBTQ communities, many of whom have been begging for representation in the MCU for years, weren't impressed with the announcement.

During an interview on SiriusXM radio this week, the Russo brothers were asked whether Joe's cameo in "Endgame" marked the first acknowledgment of queerness in a Marvel film.

"There's been insinuations about other characters' sexuality, but this is the first openly gay" character, Joe said.

Read more: Marvel's first openly gay character in 'Endgame' fell short of our expectations

"There is a gay character coming up in one of their films, and I think Kevin will make that announcement I'm sure pretty soon," Joe continued, referring to Kevin Feige, the Marvel Studios president.

Tom Hiddleston's character, Loki, is bisexual and gender-fluid in the comics. Disney/Marvel

In 2018, Feige teased two openly gay characters in the MCU — "both ones you've seen and ones you haven't seen."

The vague comment quickly made headlines, but the Russo brothers' pseudo-announcement this week has been roundly mocked by queer fans and LGBTQ allies online.

Disney has been accused of 'straightwashing' in the past

As Jess Joho wrote for Mashable, it has always made sense for the MCU to include non-straight characters.

"Superheroes often make great metaphors for something else. Marvel in particular has created heroes that read like overt metaphors for gender and sexuality," Francesca Coppa, an English professor at Muhlenberg College who studies fandom, told Mashable. "There's all different ways these characters open up to queer identification."

Many fans see the relationship between Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as heavily "coded." Marvel

Additionally, many fans believe that multiple characters have been "coded" over the years, meaning they have relationships and moments that feel queer but are not made explicit onscreen.

Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier), Steve Rogers (Captain America), Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), Okoye, Loki, and Valkyrie are the most prominent examples.

Disney has been criticized for "straightwashing" Marvel characters in the past, especially since many are queer in the comics, including Okoye, Loki, and Valkyrie.

In fact, scenes have been cut from movies like "Black Panther" and "Thor: Ragnarok" that would've made their non-straight sexualities explicit.

Many fans believe Marvel is prioritizing making money over meaningful representation onscreen

Given all this, after 22 blockbuster films and no LGBTQ representation, fans are disappointed that Marvel would retroactively announce that an existing character is gay — especially without giving that identity attention onscreen.

Many believe Disney straightwashes movies because it doesn't want to alienate certain audiences, particularly in homophobic cultures and countries.

—Nora Darhk is all the woman we need (@NicConrads) May 9, 2019

"Representation is a big thing! It's an emotional thing," one fan wrote on Twitter. "Utilizing it as a marketing tactic (and THEN not even committing to the thing) is exploitative."

Many fans mocked the underwhelming announcement, joking that Marvel executives see themselves as generous and radical by including one gay character in the massive cast of Marvel superheroes.

Read more: A definitive ranking of all the Avengers, from least to most powerful

Some compared the Russo brothers' comment to J.K. Rowling's infamous knack for adding inclusive details to characters' storylines only after the "Harry Potter" books were finished.

Ultimately, fans who crave LGBTQ representation in the Marvel Universe say they won't be satisfied until they see it onscreen.