In gorgeous new Pride art, Marvel celebrates an X-Men icon's status as a major queer superhero, confirming that the development is here to stay... even though her former boyfriend sadly can't say the same. 2025's Pride Month is on the way this June, and Marvel is celebrating with amazing art that celebrates its LGBTQIA+ characters.

In a new press release, Marvel shares Meghan Hetrick's cover art, starring Loki (on the cover of June 4's Immortal Thor #24), Kid Juggernaut (on New Champions 6, June 11), Prodigy (on X-Men #17, coming June 4), Nico Minoru (Runaways #1 coming June 11) and Valentine Vuong (Deadpool #15, June 25.) However, the character fans will be happiest to see is Kitty Pryde (Exceptional X-Men #10, June 11.)

Every year, Marvel celebrates LGBTQIA+ heroes with dedicated cover art, and it's always interesting for fans who makes the cut. One face who has long been missing from Pride coverage is Kitty's former boyfriend Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, who was shown in a bisexual, polyamorous relationship in 2020's Guardians of the Galaxy #9, by Al Ewing and Juann Cabal. Star-Lord's coming out has essentially been ignored since then, but thankfully it's clear Kitty won't suffer the same fate.

Valentine Vuong was introduced in 2022 - a non-binary assassin who channels poison through their prosthetic arms, and briefly dated Wade Wilson's Deadpool.

Marvel Celebrates X-Men's Kitty Pryde in Pride Art

The Mutant Hero Has Only Just Started Dating Women

Kitty Pryde began exploring her sexuality during Marvel's Krakoan Era, with the ongoing Exceptional X-Men series (from Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero) following her relationship with new love interest Nina. While Kitty's bisexual status hasn't been official long, it's something fans have speculated on for decades, ever since her creation by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. In the past, Kitty has dated heroes including Star-Lord and X-Men's Colossus, as well as Spider-Man in Marvel's Ultimate Universe continuity.

Claremont has introduced other queer character to X-Men lore, most famously Mystique and Destiny - two characters who were coded as queer long before Marvel made their relationship official.

Marvel celebrating Kitty Pride on its 2025 cover art shows that the publisher intends to keep depicting and celebrating Kitty as a queer hero, reassuring fans who worried that - like her name-change to Kate Pryde a few years ago - Marvel could backtrack on this latest development in her character, similar to Star-Lord's fate since he left his partners Aradia and Mors in the mysterious dimension of Morinus.

Representation is a big deal to superhero fans, but especially in the X-Men franchise, which specifically deals with themes of marginalization and identity. Fans can pick up this amazing art of X-Men's Kitty Pryde in June, along with matching covers for several of Marvel's most beloved queer heroes.

Marvel's Pride variant covers are coming this June.