'Doctor Strange 2' Star Xochitl Gomez Is Targeted over LGBTQ+ Scene - Who Is She?

Xochitl Gomez's life changed after being cast as America Chavez in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but naysayers keep blaming her for something she has no control over.

The "Baby-Sitters Club" star Xochitl Gomez portrays inter-dimensional traveler America Chavez in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Gomez's path to becoming America Chavez was long and filled with surprises. Everything started when she was five years old and she fell in love with acting after participating in musical theater.

After working on 22 live productions and a few independent films, Gomez joined the cast of Netflix's "Baby-Sitters Club." In February 2020, the then-13-year-old actress auditioned for an undisclosed role.

The casting team contacted Gomez again for a second audition six months later. "Sorcerer" was a common word in the script she got, so she deduced the project was linked to Cumberbatch's "Doctor Strange," and she was right.

Two days after returning home from testing in the UK, Gomez's agent asked her to join a Zoom meeting. Little did she know that casting director Sarah Finn would join the call to tell her, "Welcome to the MCU. You are America Chavez!"

Before working in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," Xochitl Gomez read her character's comic books and fell in love with her confident and "total baddie" personality. Gomez added:

"I took stuff that was in the comics, and kind of lightened it up since she's less experienced. [In this film], she's younger than any of her known appearances."

Gomez is fond of America Chavez for more than one reason, including she represents the LGBTQ+ and Latinx community. Unfortunately, not everyone is okay with including gay characters in the MCU.

On April 9, 2022, Gomez shared photos of herself and her "Baby-Sitters Club" co-star Momona Tamada driving through Malibu and going to the theater to watch Jamie Lee Curtis' "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

"You've already achieved more than those haters ever will."

Naysayers took to the comment section to blame Gomez for banning "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, and a few other Middle East countries. The truth is she had nothing to do with it.

Saudi Arabia's General Supervisor of Cinema Classification Nawaf Alsabhan explained that homosexuality is a capital offense in his country.

They initially didn't want to ban the film but intended to edit a 12-second scene where America Chavez says she has "two moms." Disney refused to make the cuts, meaning the film won't be available.

The same happened with "The Eternals," released in November 2021. It features a gay couple raising a son, and since Disney didn't edit those scenes, it was banned in some Middle East countries.

While many online trolls targeted Gomez for doing her job and saying a line the film's writers created for her fictional character, other people supported the young actress.

"You don't deserve any of this [hate]!" wrote one netizen. "You've already achieved more than those haters ever will," added another fan. Xochitl Gomez's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" will premiere on May 6.