An unreleased episode of Marvel animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur won’t air on Disney Channel over its politically sensitive LGBTQ themes, people who worked on the show say. The episode is about the recurring character Brooklyn, a trans classmate of Lunella Lafayette (aka Moon Girl), competing in a girl’s volleyball game and a “a narrow-minded coach” who tries to have Brooklyn barred from playing.
Early in the episode, “The Gatekeeper,” Brooklyn recalls her time spent playing soccer and “the darkness of me having to play on the boys team.” Brooklyn’s comments about her athletic past are overheard by the opposing team’s coach, Greer (played by Amy Sedaris), who tries to have the teenager disqualified from the game. But Brooklyn’s coach, gym teacher Coach Hrbek, tells Greer, “Brooklyn IS a girl, and she’s gonna play.” The episode then veers into supervillain territory, as Greer uses a magical key to confine Brooklyn, her teammates, and watergirl Lunella in the girl’s locker room.
Brooklyn, who is voiced by actor Indya Moore, identifies as trans to her peers in the episode. “I’m trans, my very existence breaks Greer’s rules,” she tells her teammates before breaking down into tears. Brooklyn’s trans identity is further communicated through imagery; Brooklyn wears Pride-themed kneepads and has a “Trans is beautiful” sticker on her water bottle. The episode’s color palette is saturated in hues from the transgender flag. Its themes of prejudice, exclusion, and finding support through progressive allies is unmissable.
Artists who worked on Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur took to social media this week to lament that the episode had been “shelved because of which party that won the recent election,” likely referring to Donald Trump winning the presidency and Republicans garnering a majority in the U.S. House and Senate. Conservative politicians have campaigned to ban trans and non-binary student athletes competing in girl’s and women’s athletics in recent years.
According to a source at Disney, the decision to hold the episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was made more than a year ago and was not based the result of recent U.S. elections. That source said that “in this case, this decision was based on this specific episode, not because of the character being trans.” They said the episode is not specifically “banned” from airing, but being “held.” It’s unclear if the episode will ever see an official release.
The source said that Disney is “really proud” of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, noting that its target age range is kids age 6-12 and that the company is “respectful of the role that parents play in the discussions they have with their children.”
“The Gatekeeper” was one of a handful of episodes still to be aired as part of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur season 2. While the animated series was canceled earlier this year, Disney and Marvel still had about 10 episodes in the tank. And though “The Gatekeeper” may never officially air, on Friday, the full, completed episode was uploaded to YouTube, unofficially.
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur debuted on Disney Channel in February 2023. The show, which also streams on Disney Plus, follows the adventures of 13-year-old prodigy Lunella Lafayette and her T. rex sidekick, Devil Dinosaur. After Lunella accidentally brings Devil Dinosaur into present-day New York City, the duo works together to protect the her neighborhood from danger, amid other hijinks. The show features the voices of Diamond White as Lunella, Fred Tatasciore as Devil Dinosaur, Alfre Woodard as Lunella’s grandmother Mimi, and Laurence Fishburne as The Beyonder.
Update (4:30 p.m. EST): This story has been updated with information from a source at Disney.
Correction: A previous version of this story indicated that Brooklyn does not explicitly identify as trans in the episode. She does, and this story has been updated to note that.
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