With Marvel Studios’ Eternals poised to open internationally–and usher in the franchise’s first openly gay superhero–some international territories have reacted with restrictive ratings to the film, or worse. Several countries–including the nation of Saudi Arabia–have announced it will ban the film altogether.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that parent company Disney announced on November 4 that it had rejected demands by censors in the Gulf states for certain moments in the film to be deleted. Cinema chains in the region had already scrubbed the title from their websites with one exception: the United Arab Emirates still listed the film as opening November 11.
Related: These actors are to play gay husbands in new Marvel movie, The Eternals
Sources further tell the trade outlet that most of the demands made by the censors related to the relationship between the gay hero Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and his on-screen husband, played by Haaz Sleiman. The couple shares a passionate kiss at one point, the first in MCU canon. Homosexuality remains violently criminalized across most of the Gulf region, which includes the countries of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Last year, the four nations all banned the Pixar film Onward over a single line of dialogue referencing a lesbian relationship.
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Chloe Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Eternals, had previously told media outlets that she and Disney had extensive discussions about the same-sex content of the film. She further asserted that she would refuse to edit out any references to Phastos’ sexuality for foreign distribution. Disney had previously deleted a same-sex kiss in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in order to exhibit it in territories in Asia and the Middle East.
sardonically_amused
Saudi Arabia? No surpises here.
James
THOSE HATE FILLED DUMPS STILL STONE PEOPLE TO DEATH. MAY THOSE COUNTRIES ROT IN HELL. NO ONE WILL EVER MAKE A FILM ABOUT THEM.
barryaksarben
Our dear good friends in the Kingdom of the saudi butchers just today refused to release more oiul like we asked them to help with gas prices. I guess they must be saving up for the next terrorist attack on us. I mean those arent cheap. Look at 9-11. The fact that both parties will NEVER call these vicious murdering thugs out for their crimes proves everyone in our government is for sale. For all their homophobia their little old dead king loved to hold hands with Poppy Bush. ANd now we have the bloody prince as our BFF . He was behind the butchering of the reporter and Trump the bovine prolapse cheered him on. Will the American people EVER hear the truth about the KINGDOM?
djhavyk
Hollywood needs to just stick to their guns and refuse to cater to these backwoods, narrow-minded dictators in foreign countries. In fact, they should be deliberately including queer content in EVERY film they make and let the populations of those countries force change to their government’s way of thinking. I realize that it cuts into their profits to do that, but do they really want to be in the business of limiting their creativity because it will piss off some country somewhere?
Mack
I’m surprised they haven’t bitched about the women not being in burkas. But hey we have Beckham as their spokesperson.
kareem
Muslim countries what a big surprise