Eternals is now on general release, but we recently learned that the latest Marvel Studios movie will not be opening in certain Gulf nations after Disney refused to make some edits.
The Chloe Zhao-directed film was set to open across the Gulf region on November 11, but Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have now pulled the film from theaters. Apparently, a series of edit requests were made by the local censors which Disney would not acquiesce to. Not surprisingly, the scenes in question related to the openly gay Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who is shown to have settled down with a family in the second act and shares a kiss with his husband at one point.
Disney has been commended for refusing to make the cuts, and star Angelina Jolie (Thena) has now weighed in on the situation by stating that she is "proud of Marvel."
"I'm sad for [those audiences]. And I'm proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out," Jolie said to Australian website news.com.au. "I still don't understand how we live in a world today where there's still [people who] would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love. How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn't approve or appreciate it is ignorant."
Jolie is unlikely to be the only Eternals cast member to speak out about this, but it probably won't make much of a difference. The sad reality is, homosexuality is still far from being accepted (it's actually illegal across the Gulf) in certain parts of the world, where movies depicting same-sex relationships are going to continue to run into problems.
Tell us, have you been to see Eternals yet? If so, what did you think? You can check out our review here.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.