From sexuality to ability, “Eternals” is the first Marvel movie to create a cast of characters with this much diversity from all backgrounds and ethnicities. The movie came out on Nov. 5, 2021, and has gotten a lot of mixed reviews. It touches on things that have never been seen in a Marvel movie, such as introducing the first openly gay character, Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), as well as the first official LGBTQ+ related kiss between Henry and Haaz Sleiman (Phastos’ husband).

The movie also features the first ever deaf superhero, Makkari (played by Lauren Ridloff). Throughout the movie, she communicates  with her fellow Eternals using sign language, resulting in increased interest in learning ASL (American Sign Language) by viewers due to the movie’s success. According to Independent, Preply, a language learning tool, has reported a 250% increase in searches for “learn sign language for beginners” after the movie’s debut. Ridloff took to Twitter to encourage and express her support for the newfound interest in learning sign language.

“Eternals” has inspired the deaf and hard of hearing community to push for subtitles in theaters to make movies accessible to everyone. “I’m just thrilled that’s happening,” Ridloff said in an interview with Variety. “I think it is an important conversation that we need to continue to have. We just need to normalize subtitles.”

The cast of  “Eternals” is also quite diverse, including members of the African American, East Asian, Latino, and Indian communities.  “[The diversity is] huge, especially for the deaf community, because all of a sudden, they’re watching a movie that’s speaking their language, and I think it’s amazing,” Salma Hayek said, as reported by Sky News. Hayek is a Latina actress who played Ajak in the film. 

Some of the comic book characters were gender-swapped in the film adaptation. Sprite (played by Lia McHugh), Ajak, and Makkari were all male in the comics, and they were gender-swapped to fit into the movie better.

Zhao is a two-time Oscar winner for best directing and best picture for “Nomadland,” holding the title for the second woman ever to win an Oscar in best directing. She is the first Oscar-winning director to direct a Marvel movie.

“Eternals” receives a ⅘ stars.  The plot was lacking;  however, the representation of these diverse characters is important, especially in a franchise as big as Marvel. It’s a step in the right direction when it comes to portraying diverse characters without stereotypes. 

Critics, however, didn’t seem to enjoy the film. “Eternals” received 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, which breaks the previous record of worst rated Marvel movie. The worst rated was “Thor: The Dark World” which had a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As reviewer Sean P. Means (The Movie Cricket) wrote, “‘Eternals’ isn’t a terrible Marvel movie, just an average one. Conjuring the talent at work, and the potential of such a world-changing set of heroes, it could have been so much more.”

“Eternals” is available to watch on Disney+.