The Eternals Is Introducing A Gay Character; Richard Madden Says It's "Hugely Important"

Richard Madden talks about bringing diversity and inclusivity to the MCU.

Point of diversity is the new frontier for the MCU, with the whole universe turning over a new leaf after the record-breaking success of Avengers: Endgame. The whole thing about Marvel now is to bring different facets of our world to the superhero genre, and they are making it their mission to make the whole superhero genre, as much diversity as they can.

Though the studio was criticized in the past for not making much effort in allowing more representation in their movies, they are trying to make some effort in bringing more representation to the films. One of the studios recent announcements was a step in the right direction for Disney as well as Marvel. They announced one of the characters in the upcoming movie 'The Eternals' would feature a gay character in a prominent role.

Source: Book Riot

Marvel head Kevin Feige talked about bringing a gay character in the new film, and he confirmed one of the characters in The Eternals would be gay. Kevin said, “He’s married. He’s got a family. And that is just part of who he is,” talking to Good Morning America.

Though Kevin was tight-lipped about which character will be gay in the movie the popular guess is Richard Madden, the former 'Game of Thrones' star and 'Bodyguard' fame actor who recently played in the Elton John biography movie 'Rocketman'.

Source: Variety

While talking to Entertainment Tonight, Richard talked about the importance of providing more platform for minorities in big movies. He said, “I think it’s hugely important, just the cast is so diverse. I’m a white male actor and not in the majority of this cast. I’m the minority, which is important in terms of diversity in filmmaking. I think Marvel are really at the forefront of that.”

The Eternals is without a doubt the most diverse group of cast Marvel’s ever put forward with Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan and recently announced, member of the MCU, Kit Harington. The characters will play a group of celestial beings who were sent to earth to protect humanity from Deviants.

Source: Tom's Guide

The whole movie is almost like a weirder version of 'Guardians of the Galaxy', and it seems Marvel is going to address the wackier side of the Marvel Universe. While Richard is welcoming the chance to usher in a gay character in the MCU, he is also happy about working with Kit again after they shared the screen in the first season of Game of Thrones.

“Thrilled to work with Kit again,” Richard said. “Thrilled to work with Gemma Chan and Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek and the whole cast, [an] outstanding bunch of actors.”

Source: Winter is Coming

The Eternals is currently holding a release date of 6 November 2020, and this will be the second movie in the MCU Phase 4 after the much-awaited 'Black Widow' movie starring Scarlett Johansson.

The Phase 4 of the MCU will end with the fourth Thor movie, Thor: Love and Thunder. The film is also said to be showing a gay character in Tessa Thompson with the actress confirming at the comic con, the first order of business for the actress in the movie will be finding a queen for herself after she was made the king of Asgard.

Watch: The comic con appearance of Thor 4 cast at comic con

With two gay characters, a leading Chinese hero, in 'Shang-Chi' and a female Thor, it seems Marvel is more than happy expanding their sandbox. They are also said to be looking for a transgender woman to play a character in an unspecified Marvel movie with a single name 'Jessica' released for the character.

The studio is making sure they check all the boxes and provide a thoroughly entertaining movie with a diverse group of cast, and we are all for it.