Arts & Entertainment
Marvel actor reveals ‘The Eternals’ will feature married gay superhero
It looks like Marvel is finally going to deliver on its promise to provide substantive LGBTQ representation in its “cinematic universe.”
Actor Haaz Sleimann, who is openly gay, was speaking to LGBTQ media outlet NewNowNext for a profile story when he revealed that he will be portraying the husband of a gay superhero in the studio’s upcoming film, “The Eternals,” slated for a November 2020 release.
Sleimann, 43, has recently garnered attention for his role as a gay Syrian refugee in Apple+ TV’s anthology series “Little America,” and previously made headlines in 2017 when he came out not only as gay but as a “total bottom.”
In the interview, Sleimann mostly talks about his episode of “Little America” and his starring role in the upcoming LGBTQ rom-com, “Breaking Fast,” but in discussing the increased presence of positive role models for queer young people since his own youth, he segues onto the subject of his casting in “The Eternals,” casually dropping the big news.
“I just shot a Marvel film with the first openly gay superhero… I’m married to the gay superhero Phastos (…) and we represent a gay family and have a child.”
Phastos, as previously announced, will be played by Brian Tyree Henry, known for his roles in the FX series “Atlanta” (as the rapper Paper Boy) and in the film “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Henry has not publicly spoken about his own sexuality, but in a trailer for “The Eternals” that debuted at a Comic Con in Brazil in December, he was seen holding the hand of another man, leading to assumptions – now confirmed by Sleimann – that the character was gay.
MCU President Kevin Feige has previously expressed his frustration over the shortage of LGBTQ characters in the franchise’s films, and told an audience in New York last October that “a forthcoming movie” would include LGBTQ representation, after previously announcing plans for queer storylines in both “The Eternals” and the upcoming “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which will reportedly feature Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie character in a relationship with another woman.
The studio’s previous attempts at inclusion, like those made in other Disney-owned franchises, have fallen far short of expectation by remaining vague about the sexuality of the characters in question or relegating the “gay moment” to a brief, blink-and-you-miss-it onscreen reference, this one will feature a same-sex kiss.
According to Sleimann, that won’t be the case in “The Eternals.” Asked by NewNowNext if there will be a kiss between Phastos and his husband, the proud queer Muslim actor, who left his native Lebanon at 21 to escape the country’s oppressive and dangerous homophobia, answers enthusiastically.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely, and it’s a beautiful, very moving kiss,” he discloses. “Everyone cried on set. For me it’s very important to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be.”
Of his co-star, he says, “Brian Tyree Henry is such a tremendous actor and brought so much beauty into this part, and at one point I saw a child in his eyes, and I think it’s important for the world to be reminded that we in the queer community were all children at one point. We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.”
“The Eternals” depicts a group of superhumans who have obtained their powers through genetic alteration by an alien race known as the Celestials. It features at least eleven super-powered characters, and among the actors are Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, and Kumail Nanjiani.
It will appear in movie theaters on November 6.
Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny shares Super Bowl stage with Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga
Puerto Rican activist celebrates half time show
Bad Bunny on Sunday shared the stage with Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif.
Martin came out as gay in 2010. Gaga, who headlined the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show, is bisexual. Bad Bunny has championed LGBTQ rights in his native Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
“Not only was a sophisticated political statement, but it was a celebration of who we are as Puerto Ricans,” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, told the Washington Blade on Monday. “That includes us as LGBTQ+ people by including a ground-breaking superstar and legend, Ricky Martin singing an anti-colonial anthem and showcasing Young Miko, an up-and-coming star at La Casita. And, of course, having queer icon Lady Gaga sing salsa was the cherry on the top.”
La Casita is a house that Bad Bunny included in his residency in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, last year. He recreated it during the halftime show.
“His performance brought us together as Puerto Ricans, as Latin Americans, as Americans (from the Americas) and as human beings,” said Serrano. “He embraced his own words by showcasing, through his performance, that the ‘only thing more powerful than hate is love.’”
Drag artists perform for crowds in towns across Virginia. The photographer follows Gerryatrick, Shenandoah, Climaxx, Emerald Envy among others over eight months as they perform at venues in the Virginia towns of Staunton, Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Books
New book explores homosexuality in ancient cultures
‘Queer Thing About Sin’ explains impact of religious credo in Greece, Rome
‘The Queer Thing About Sin’
By Harry Tanner
c.2025, Bloomsbury
$28/259 pages
Nobody likes you very much.
That’s how it seems sometimes, doesn’t it? Nobody wants to see you around, they don’t want to hear your voice, they can’t stand the thought of your existence and they’d really rather you just go away. It’s infuriating, and in the new book “The Queer Thing About Sin” by Harry Tanner, you’ll see how we got to this point.
When he was a teenager, Harry Tanner says that he thought he “was going to hell.”
For years, he’d been attracted to men and he prayed that it would stop. He asked for help from a lay minister who offered Tanner websites meant to repress his urges, but they weren’t the panacea Tanner hoped for. It wasn’t until he went to college that he found the answers he needed and “stopped fearing God’s retribution.”
Being gay wasn’t a sin. Not ever, but he “still wanted to know why Western culture believed it was for so long.”
Historically, many believe that older men were sexual “mentors” for teenage boys, but Tanner says that in ancient Greece and Rome, same-sex relationships were common between male partners of equal age and between differently-aged pairs, alike. Clarity comes by understanding relationships between husbands and wives then, and careful translation of the word “boy,” to show that age wasn’t a factor, but superiority and inferiority were.
In ancient Athens, queer love was considered to be “noble” but after the Persians sacked Athens, sex between men instead became an acceptable act of aggression aimed at conquered enemies. Raping a male prisoner was encouraged but, “Gay men became symbols of a depraved lack of self-control and abstinence.”
Later Greeks believed that men could turn into women “if they weren’t sufficiently virile.” Biblical interpretations point to more conflict; Leviticus specifically bans queer sex but “the Sumerians actively encouraged it.” The Egyptians hated it, but “there are sporadic clues that same-sex partners lived together in ancient Egypt.”
Says Tanner, “all is not what it seems.”
So you say you’re not really into ancient history. If it’s not your thing, then “The Queer Thing About Sin” won’t be, either.
Just know that if you skip this book, you’re missing out on the kind of excitement you get from reading mythology, but what’s here is true, and a much wider view than mere folklore. Author Harry Tanner invites readers to go deep inside philosophy, religion, and ancient culture, but the information he brings is not dry. No, there are major battles brought to life here, vanquished enemies and death – but also love, acceptance, even encouragement that the citizens of yore in many societies embraced and enjoyed. Tanner explains carefully how religious credo tied in with homosexuality (or didn’t) and he brings readers up to speed through recent times.
While this is not a breezy vacation read or a curl-up-with-a-blanket kind of book, “The Queer Thing About Sin” is absolutely worth spending time with. If you’re a thinking person and can give yourself a chance to ponder, you’ll like it very much.
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