Victoria Hand, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Victoria Hand (Saffron Burrows)

Agent and superhero liaison Victoria Hand was one of the recurring lesbian characters in the Marvel comics, and at one point, had a relationship with fellow agent Isabelle Hartley. Introduced in The Invincible Iron Man #8 (December 2008), Hand appeared as a supporting character throughout the 2010-2013 New Avengers series from issue #1 (August 2010) through the character’s death in issue #32 (December 2012).

In the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Victoria Hand and Isabelle Hartley were never identified as lesbians before both were killed off, though in a flashback in the second season episode, “One Door Closes,” Isabelle hinted at their relationship. By keeping their sexuality and relationship undefined, the showrunners admitted this was an attempt to get around the Bury Your Gays trope, though queer comics fans were still disappointed.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, they explained:

EW: It seemed like you were going to explore Isabelle being the late Victoria Hand’s (openly bisexual actress Safrron Burrows) love interest from the comics.
Jed Whedon: There were versions, but it started to be irresponsible if we addressed it to not address it with more weight and time and energy.
Maurissa Tancharoen: And then we would’ve been known as the people who killed off two lesbians on the show.

SPOILER ALERT: You guys are known as the people who killed off two lesbians on the show.

Read more: The Disposable Queer Women of Comics TV

Appearances:

• 4 episodes. Season 1

Female love interests:

• Isabelle Hartley 💀 (Lucy Lawless, lesbian, guest, 2 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

No male love interests

Relationship story arc with a man: No

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No

Filter Relationship Arc:

• None

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.