Kissing is forbidden, even for Marvel heroes. That certainly applies to the story of the MCU hit Eternals: When it was released in 2021, the governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman refused to release it.
That’s why the Marvel epic Eternals was not allowed to appear in 5 countries
The background for the cinema ban was one same-sex love story: Among the Eternals, who have lived unrecognized among humans for thousands of years, are the homosexual lovers Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and the human Ben (Haaz Sleiman). They express their affection for each other in several romantic scenes.
This was apparently too much for the governments of Arab countries, whose customs often reject homosexuality in one form or another. The film was released in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt in an edited version in the cinema, which did not contain any homosexual love scenes.
“[Das Publikum] I’m sorry for these countries“News.au 2021 quoted Eternals star Angelina Jolie as responding to the bans. “And I’m proud of that Marvel has refused to remove the scenes.”
In contrast, a report from Indonesian broadcaster VOI suggests that Marvel put together a specially edited version for publication there. It supposedly contains no love scenes at all.
The Marvel epic Eternals has been lost in the cinema
The whole problem might have been different if Eternals had done better at the box office. According to The Numbers, the $200 million blockbuster played only 400 million in the cinema again, which was not least due to the restrictions of the global corona pandemic.
Another reason for many fans is the… lukewarm reviews have been: The film only has a review score of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, putting it in one of the lowest places among the MCU films.
The result came as a surprise to quite a few people, after all there are numerous stars in front of and behind the camera. In addition to Jolie, Henry and Sleiman, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan and Salma Hayek can be seen, among others. Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) sat in the director’s chair.
Eternals has been increasingly forgotten in the community over the last three years. It is still questionable whether a second Eternals film will ever be released. You can refresh your memory of the Marvel film on Disney+.
A thematically similar article appeared on our sister site Sensacine.