Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’ will feature MCU’s first openly gay superhero
He'll be married with a family, Marvel's president confirms
Marvel’s upcoming superhero movie The Eternals will feature a main character who is gay, married, and has a family.
That’s according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who dropped the information during an appearance on Good Morning America.
“He’s married. He’s got a family. And that is just part of who he is,” Feige said.
He neglected to mention which specific character would be gay, instead only noting that it’s happening.
The Eternals is currently set for release in November 2020, and stars Gemma Chan as Sersi, Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, and Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos.
In Marvel’s comics, the Eternals are a fictional race of humanoids who are an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth.
Marvel had previously hinted that The Eternals would feature a gay character, after Victoria Alonso, Marvel’s production chief, told Variety that the world is “ready” for a gay superhero in Marvel’s cinematic universe.
“Our entire success is based on people that are incredibly different,” Alonso said, adding, “Why would we only want to be recognized by only one type of person? Our audience is global, is diverse, is inclusive. If we don’t do it that way for them, we will fail.”
She also referenced rumors that Marvel’s upcoming The Eternals film would feature the MCU’s first openly gay hero, saying the studio would “cast the best Eternals cast that we can.”
Reports emerged that the studio was looking for actors “of all ethnicity” and would “prefer the role to go to an openly gay actor.”
Feige’s confirmation of Eternals‘ gay superhero also means that Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie will not be the MCU’s first openly LGBTQ hero.
It was confirmed last month that Valkyrie will be openly bisexual Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth installment in the Thor franchise.
Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, Thompson said that Valkyrie will search for a queen to rule alongside her in New Asgard.
“As new king, she needs to find her queen,” Thompson said. “That will be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted.”
Marvel was criticized after the release of Ragnarok for reportedly editing out a scene depicting Valkyrie’s bisexuality.
The character is openly bisexual in Marvel’s comics, based on her relationship with Dr. Annabelle Riggs in the Fearless Defenders series.
Fans have been pushing for more LGBTQ representation in Marvel’s films after widespread backlash to “Grieving Man,” a background character in Avengers: Endgame who was the MCU’s first openly LGBTQ character.
Spider-Man star Tom Holland recently supported a gay version of his web-slinging hero, saying that Marvel’s films should “represent more than one type of person.”
And Brie Larson, who currently stars as Captain Marvel, said she wants to see more LGBTQ characters and heroes.
“I don’t understand how you could think that a certain type of person isn’t allowed to be a superhero,” she told Variety in April. “So to me it’s like, we gotta move faster. But I’m always wanting to move faster with this stuff.”
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