‘Eternals’ Director Hopes MCU’s First Gay Character Is Not Censored Overseas
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The director of Eternals, the upcoming Marvel movie telling the story of the titular race of aliens that hiding on Earth, is optimistic that the gay scenes will not be censored by overseas classification boards.
Two diametrically opposed alien species, the Eternals and the Deviants were created by the Celestials. The Eternals have been blending into the crowds that compose humanity for more than seven thousand years to protect themselves from the evil that the Deviants wreak. Unfortunately, a tragedy means that the Eternals must come out of hiding to defend Earth from the Deviants.
The cast is star-studded and has a number of firsts among these characters. Richard Madden is Ikaris, Gemma Chan is Sersi, Kumail Nanjiani is Kingo, Lauren Ridloff is Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry is Phastos, Salma Hayak is Ajak, Lia McHugh is Sprite, Don Lee is Gilgamesh, Barry Keoghan is Druig and Angelina Jolie is Thena. Phastos is the first gay superhero and Makkari is the first deaf superhero to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Check out the trailer for the movie below!
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Eternals comes to theatres in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 5th, after its arrival in Europe on November 3rd. However, the movie was not mentioned in a list of upcoming Marvel movies coming to China, and this was attributed to director Chloé Zhao’s problematic status in the country following the release of Nomadland.
Speaking to IndieWire, Zhao shared her optimism that Eternals will reach overseas audiences in its original form. “I don’t know all the details but I do believe discussions were had and there’s a big desire from Marvel and myself — we talked about this — to not change the cut of the movie,” she said of the scenes which feature Phastos’ romantic relationships. “Fingers crossed.”
“The way Phastos’ story plays out in the film is that he’s someone who only sees humanity as a whole and believes that technology’s going to solve the problem,” continued Zhao. “Obviously, he lost faith in us for some very tough things that we’ve done. And then he had to stop looking at us as a whole and look at one person he falls in love with, and one child, to regain the face of humanity.”
For these themes to be centred on a gay character felt like a chance to change conventions on who heroes are and who they can be. “To position that family in that specific situation and to have that moment feel authentic and real… the audience has to feel that to care,” concluded the director. “Otherwise, there’s no point in putting that onscreen because they don’t feel it.”
Topics: Marvel, Disney, TV And Film
