Marvel’s first queer superhero film, Eternals, rated PG-13 for ‘brief sexuality’ and violence
Marvel has released the first trailer for Eternals set to be released in November 2021. (YouTube/Marvel Entertainment)
Marvel’s Eternals has been officially rated PG-13 for “fantasy violence” and “brief sexuality”, prompting rampant speculation.
According to a listing from the Motion Picture Association’s classification and rating administration, Eternals earned the rating for “fantasy violence and action, some language and brief sexuality”.
A PG-13 rating isn’t unusual in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Black Widow, Captain Marvel, all three Iron Man movies, the Captain America movies and the Avengers films have all received PG-13 ratings for a variety of reasons including “intense sequences” of action and violence or suggestive language or content.
Eternals already marks a shift for the MCU, as it’s the first film to include an openly queer superhero in Phastos.
Needless to say, the mention of “brief sexuality” titillated fans who speculated that the new film might be about to “get a little sexy on us” – perhaps at the same time as breaking Marvel’s notorious ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ approach to queerness.
Eternals about to get a little sexy on us. PG-13 sexy but still. 👀 https://t.co/v4c3K3W604
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) September 22, 2021
Richard madden and kit Harrington s3x scene finally!!!
— Viccc ? #ShangChi Era (@hausofviccc) September 22, 2021
Hopefully not too brief.
— Mostly Superheroes (@mostlysuperhero) September 22, 2021
And it’ll prob only be like, for a few seconds and can be easily edited out for foreign releases and all— TwistOfJackTwist(Jake’s Version) (@JamieRsBF) September 22, 2021
Eternals takes place years after the Avengers undid Thanos’ snap, which erased half of all life in the universe.
Immortal humanoid aliens, called the Eternals, come out of hiding after their dangerous counterparts, the Deviants, resurface and try to destroy humanity.
A recent trailer for the film featured Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, who is is a gay alien inventor extraordinaire. Phastos has been secretly helping humanity progress technologically from the shadows.
Though he wasn’t in the trailer, actor Haaz Sleiman previously confirmed he will play Phastos’ husband. He shared that the couple have a child together.
The “brief sexuality” mention may not relate to them at all though, as they aren’t the only couple in Eternals.
Two of the film’s main characters, Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Ikaris (Richard Madden), are also seen to be in a relationship.
Chan recently described the film as a love story an interview with Vanity Fair Italy. She said her character is the hero who has the “most affinity with humans”, and teased that she is “even involved in two love stories”, CinemaBlend reported.
Eternals will be released in cinemas on 5 November.
