Report: Marvel Studios Seeking Gay Actor for Lead Role in The Eternals
John F. Trent
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Marvel Studios is reportedly seeking a gay actor for the lead role in their upcoming film, The Eternals.
The report comes from That Hashtag Show. They indicate Marvel Studios is looking for an actor aged 30 to 49 who “physically looks like a superhero” for one of the film’s lead roles. The report indicates Disney and Marvel Studios are “open to actors of all ethnicity.” However, they “would prefer the role to go an openly gay actor.”
That Hashtag indicates they are specifically looking for “an openly gay male as a lead.”
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige previously commented they would be introducing LGBTQ characters into the MCU. In fact, Feige confirmed they would be introducing new ones as well as revealing already established MCU characters as LGBTQ.
The report does not indicate what character this actor would be playing stating, “the studio is going to great lengths to keep the identity of the character a secret.”
Original reports surrounding The Eternals film indicated it would be focused on Sersi. However, Kevin Feige recently discussed the film indicating it would be more of an ensemble film similar to Guardians of the Galaxy.
Feige spoke with Collider about the idea of introducing the Eternals as an ensemble team:
“Eternals are one group, but we like the idea of introducing an ensemble, doing an ensemble movie from the start, as opposed to building up as we did with the first Avengers. More like Guardians, not tonally, but in terms of introducing a new group of people.”
The Eternals are an ancient race that were created by the Celestials through genetic experiments on early humanity. They were created by the legendary Jack Kirby back in the 1960s.
Some of the major Eternals that could be featured in the film include Ikaris, Ajak, Sersi, Domo, Makkari, Thena, Zuras, Sprite, Aginar, Druig, Valkin, Cybele, and Kronos. It’s also possible the film could introduce Hyperion and Ultimus.
Having an openly gay lead actor would be new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’s nothing new to fans of the X-Men movie franchise. Ian McKellan magnificently portrayed the villainous Magneto in four X-Men films.
Zachary Quinto also did an admirable job as Spock in the J.J. Abrams produced Star Trek films. He also was arguably the best part of the NBC TV show Heroes, playing the serial killer Sylar.
Neil Patrick Harris voiced Peter Parker and Spider-Man in the 2003 animated Spider-Man series.
Wentworth Miller took on the role of Captain Cold in both The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. He might be the best live-action Captain Cold we’ve ever seen, and was definitely a big reason to tune into both of those shows.
Also Marvel’s counterpart DC Entertainment cast Ezra Miller as The Flash in Justice League. While, his depiction of the character has fans divided, he did put his own spin on the character.
Having a gay lead actor isn’t anything out of the ordinary in Hollywood. I think the issue many people will have upon hearing this report is that Marvel is specifically seeking out a gay actor for the role rather than seeking out the best actor for the role.
The Eternals will be directed by Chloe Zhao. Reports indicate the film is expected to go into production in September of this year.
What are your thoughts on this report? Which character do you think they have in mind for this actor? Do you even believe this report?
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