Eternals reignites the debate over LGBTQ superhero representation

Marvel Studios has just released Eternals, the first film in the company's superhero franchise to feature a gay hero — and you're forgiven if you're feeling any déjà vu.

Previous films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have featured "gay moments," like Avengers: Endgame's brief scene in which a non-superhero character, portrayed by director Joe Russo, describes a same-sex date. In other cases, characters are canonically LGBTQ+ in the comics (including  Asgardian warrior Valkyrie) or in other Marvel properties outside of the realm of films (like Tom Hiddleston's Loki, who hinted at his bisexuality in the eponymous Disney+ television series).

In 2016, Ryan Reynolds's Deadpool winked and nudged at the character's pansexuality — but that's where it stopped. 

Marvel Studios has often shied away from portraying explicitly LGBTQ relationships in its cinematic universe, and its attempts at representation have often been criticized by fans as talking the talk without walking the walk.

CBC News talked to three experts, who discussed whether Eternals signals a turning point for the mega-franchise and other superhero-focused companies.

In Eternals, Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry) is a married gay man with a young son, and his family life is entwined into the heart of the story.

"It's nice to see that normalized, with a queer family in a blockbuster [film], because I think that's very rare," said Abby Monteil, a reporter for the entertainment website Decider.

While Disney has a tradition of promoting its efforts at representation, in reality, Monteil said, "it's kind of sprinkled in — in a blink-or-you'll-miss-it fashion."

"So it's nice to have that actually be a part of the movie, that it can't be cut out," she said.

In the original comics, Phastos's sexuality is ambiguous.

Though they made their debut appearance in 1976, the Eternals have remained — until now — a lesser-known piece of intellectual property within the Marvel Comics universe, said Monteil. As such, most fans don't have strong preconceived notions of what these characters should or shouldn't look like, making it easier to tweak their identities for screen adaptations. 

According to one fan, the Eternals are obscure enough in Marvel lore that they present something akin to an empty canvas.

"I think if you were going to pick a character from the comics who was not explicitly queer in their original form, and make them queer in a new adaptation, doing it with an Eternal is a perfect way to do that, because it doesn't really directly conflict with the original canon," said Matthew Selle, a TikTok creator who makes Marvel-related content.

"In the comics, the Eternals are sort of like these ancient, idealistic representations of humanity," said Selle. "And so getting to see idealistic representations that actually do fit a diverse scale and [are] not just put into one box is fantastic."