Eternals

is set to be one of the more unique films of Phase 4, being the first in the upcoming slate to be based on an entirely new set of Marvel characters.

Eternals

actress Angelina Jolie

spoke about her co-star Barry Keoghan bringing a

“strong, unique personality”

to the film, indicating that the film’s characters will take a new direction than has been seen in the MCU’s past.

Eternals

also recently underwent a facelift

in regards to its title, opting to remove “The” from the film’s official name. This was also accompanied by

a new logo

, which slightly adjusts the title’s font.

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Little has been seen from the film itself, but fans did get a tease of

Eternals

through a new poster

. The image gave a silhouetted look at the team, as well as the ominous appearance of a Celestial.

Several individuals associated with

Eternals

have spoken about the film’s diversity and the hope to normalize the characters’ different identities…

NEWS

In a new interview with

The Hollywood Reporter

, several individuals from

Eternals

spoke about the film’s push for diversity. This included the film’s director Chloé Zhao, star Kumail Nanjiani, and President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige.

Kevin Feige spoke about the film’s inclusion of an LGBTQ+ relationship and how it

“was always sort of inherent in the story and the makeup of the different types of

Eternals.”

Bryan Tyree Henry, who plays Phastos in the film, will be the first gay superhero in the MCU. Feige also spoke about the future of the MCU and how the franchise would make an effort to normalize this kind of diversity:

Kumail Nanjiani plays Kingo in the film, an Eternal who has gone into hiding by becoming a Bollywood star. The film is reportedly set to feature a Bollywood dance sequence that includes 50 dancers, to which Nanjiani said:

“I think it is extremely well done, and I look forward to that level of inclusion in our future movies being less of a topic.”

Zhao talked about the diverse cast of the film, which spans across several cultures and disabilities. Zhao, however, wanted to reflect how the Eternals are a group of outsiders, yet you see them beyond their identities as individuals:

“When I walked onto the set and saw a huge group of brown people who were going to be in a Marvel movie, I felt such gratitude towards Chloé for creating the situation…The scene was full of joy.”

WHAT THIS MEANS

From the sounds of it,

Eternals

is only a jumping-off point for a sustained push for diversity and representation in the MCU. The success of

Black Panther

proved that audiences crave to see minority groups represented on-screen, and Marvel Studios has answered this desire by continuing to bring films headlined by diverse casts.

“I wanted it to reflect the world we live in…but also I wanted to put a cast together that feels like a group of misfits. I didn’t want the jocks. I want you to walk away at the end of the movie not thinking, ‘This person is this ethnicity, that person is that nationality.’ No. I want you to walk away thinking, ‘That’s a family.’ You don’t think about what they represent. You see them as individuals.”

Now, films like

Eternals

and

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

can lead films that depict minority groups in prominent roles, thusly normalizing it to audiences. Diversity will almost become secondary, as audiences will see characters as characters, which Zhao hopes to achieve through

Eternals

.

Not only is ethnic and cultural diversity being represented, but it seems that Kevin Feige is also hoping to include more LGBTQ+ representation in upcoming films. LGBTQ+ representation has not been as prominent as it could be, with a deleted scene from

Thor: Ragnarok

alluding to Valkyrie being bisexual. However,

Thor: Love and Thunder

is said to explore Valkyrie’s search for a queen, so it seems this sort of representation is important to Marvel going forward.

Audiences will be able to see Marvel continue to push for diversity on screen when

Eternals

releases in theaters on February 12, 2021.