Disney's Jungle Cruise marks another small step towards LGBTQ+ representation for the studio, and star Jack Whitehall explained why his character's coming out scene was so important.
At a press conference attended by CBR, Whitehall spoke about the moment where his character, MacGregor Houghton, comes out to Johnson's Frank Wolff. "I think it was a scene that we really wanted to get right," Whitehall said. "What's so great about this movie is that all of the characters feel so fleshed out, and all of them have interesting backstories and are fully realized. You know, in a lot of movies of this genre, sometimes you'd have characters that are a little bit two-dimensional, but I think it's so great that we get to understand so much about each of these characters. They all have reasons for being where they are, and interesting and rich textured backstories. It makes you invested in them, and it makes you care about them. It takes you really on that journey with them."
Johnson went on to offer his own take on the scene. "I felt that the scene was really exactly what it was, which was two men talking about what they loved and who they loved, and it was as simple as that," Johnson said. "We were sharing a drink."
Of course, Johnson noting how casual the reveal was speaks to what many have seen as the continuation of Disney's failed promises on the front of representation. In the scene, MacGregor never identifies as gay, he merely alludes to not being interested in women. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment akin to Disney's past attempts at queer representation on the big screen, all of which have been trumpeted beforehand as major milestones by the studio.
Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker both had similar minor moments, while MacGregor's coming out mirrors the vague nature of Loki's sexuality reveal on his series earlier this year. For his part, Whitehall is proud of the moment. "I hope that it’s a scene that audiences enjoy… I certainly felt at the time that I was proud of the work that we’d done," he recently said of the scene.
Jungle Cruise is now playing in theaters and is available to stream on Disney+ Premier Access.