Kevin Feige Confirms Gay Character In Marvel's The Eternals

The Eternals will strike a blow for inclusivity.

Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige recently revealed in a sitdown with Good Morning America that the forthcoming flick will feature the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first openly gay main character — although he didn't specify which one.

"He's married, he has a family, and [his orientation] is just part of who he is," Feige said of the character — and while that statement doesn't seem to tell us much, it actually helps narrow down the possibilities quite a bit.

We already know a great deal about the film's cast, meaning that we can take a stab as to the identity of the character through simple process of elimination. It includes Richard Madden (Rocketman) as Ikaris, an "all-powerful" character who serves as the group's leader; Angelina Jolie (Maleficent) as Thena, a warrior with an odd soft spot for the Eternals' opposing race, the Deviants; Kumail Nanjiani (Men in Black: International) as Kingo, who settled in Japan thousands of years ago and learned the ways of the Samurai; Lauren Ridloff (The Walking Dead) as a gender-swapped version of Makkari, an expert engineer and speedster; Brian Tyree Henry (Child's Play) as Phastos, a master weapons maker who nevertheless prefers not to fight; Salma Hayek (The Hitman's Bodyguard) as a gender-swapped Ajak, who hails from the icy tundra of Siberia; Lia McHugh (The Lodge) as the trickster Sprite, who is stuck in the body of a child despite being thousands of years old; and Gemma Chan (Captain Marvel) as Sersi, a younger Eternal who in the comics often serves as a love interest of Ikaris.

The production has also recently acquired the services of Train to Busan's Don Lee as Gilgamesh, a hulking Eternal also known as the Forgotten One, Game of Thrones' Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman (AKA Black Knight), and Dunkirk's Barry Keoghan as Druig, also known as the "Lord of Flames and Nightmares."

Feige's use of the word "he" clues us in to the fact that (try to keep up here) it must be one of the male characters he's talking about. Assuming that the movie will follow the comics' lead in pairing Ikaris with Sersi, he can effectively be ruled out; that leaves Kingo, Phastos, Gilgamesh, Druig, and the Black Knight as possibilities.

Of course, Feige is a master of misdirection, and he could very well have used that gender descriptor specifically to throw everyone listening to his words off the scent. When you've been listening to and analyzing Feige's carefully crafted missives of vagueness for as long as we have, you learn not to put anything past the man.

At any rate, The Eternals is shaping up to be an absolute gift for all of Marvel's millions of fans craving a bit more diversity in its offerings. In terms of age, sex, and national origin, the flick's main cast is not just the most diverse Marvel has ever fielded, but the most diverse we've ever seen in any superhero movie. The addition of a major gay character to the MCU couldn't come soon enough, and The Eternals seems like the perfect vehicle by which to introduce him (or her).

There's only one drawback here: The Eternals will drop roughly a year before Thor: Love and Thunder, which will take the honor of being the first LGBT main character in MCU history away from Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie. A deleted scene in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok implied heavily that the character is bisexual, and it's been reported that with her appearance in Love and Thunder, her sexuality will be made clear.

Well, everybody certainly loves Valkyrie — but if you're trying to tell us that the character was a beloved favorite of yours anytime before 2017, we're trying to tell you that you're lying. The MCU has a long history of turning little-known properties into well-loved household names (see: Guardians of the Galaxy), and we have no doubt that with The Eternals, the studio will once again be introducing moviegoers to a host of characters destined to become household names.

Feige's words are sure to prompt endless speculation across the entirety of the internet, but — in contrast to our usual inclination — we're not even going to take a guess as to whom he might be referring to. Okay, alright, maybe just one: we're going to go with Salma Hayek's Ajak, based solely on three things that we know for sure. First, Hayek is a magnificent actress. Second, she received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Frida Kahlo, who was famously bisexual, in the 2002 biopic Frida.

And, last but not least: we're onto you, Kevin Feige. We. Are. Onto. You.

The Eternals comes soaring into theaters on November 6, 2020.