‘Eternals’ has the MCU’s first Deaf superhero

Lauren Ridloff is excited for fans to meet Makkari, her ground-breaking “Eternals” character. Makkari is Deaf in Marvel Studios’ upcoming rendition. It sets her apart from her fellow celestial guards. “Let’s just say Makkari would not be as fast as she is if it wasn’t for her Deafness,” Ridloff told the Los Angeles Times. “I can’t wait for people to see the mo and be able to finally talk about it.” 

Chloé Zhao is the director of the film. Lauren “Eternals” follows a group of cosmic creatures tasked with defending humanity from the horrible Deviants. The cast of the film is the most varied in MCU history. The cast includes Ridloff, a Black and Mexican American Deaf actor. She plays the franchise’s first Deaf superhero.

“When I came to the process, Marvel already had a treatment, and these characters were written in the treatment, so I was very impressed by their fight for diversity,” Zhao told The Times at the premiere. “Not just in terms of gender, race. Different types of diversity. That’s one of the reasons why I was drawn to the project,” she added. The Disney tentpole is also the first MCU film directed by a woman of colour. Zhao is Chinese and made history by winning an Academy Award for directing “Nomadland” this year. 

The film introduces the franchise’s first gay superhero

“Just to know that I was working with a director like Chloé, I felt very safe,” Ridloff says. “We went through this whole new path as the first Deaf superhero in the MCU, but under her direction, I knew that she would do me justice. And I knew that … authentic representation really is important to her.” “I kept wanting to check in about how we would actually reveal my Deafness in the storyline, and we finally got to a point where I felt like we could actually show Makkari as having a Deaf benefit or a Deaf gain,” Ridloff says. 

Throughout the filming process of Eternals, Ridloff and Zhao had numerous discussions on portraying Makkari genuinely to debunk stereotypes about the Deaf community. “We are so different from each other-  our backgrounds, our cultural heritage. We kind of are like one big, dysfunctional family. It is about being supportive of each other. Celebrating our differences.”, informed Chan to The Times at Monday’s premiere. 

The film introduces the franchise’s first gay superhero in Brian Tyree Henry’s Phasto. Haaz Sleiman plays Phastos’ mortal husband. He says “he couldn’t be luckier to be a part of” the inclusive project. “This is the world that we live in,” Sleiman adds. “It is diverse. We are all these different kinds of people. That’s what makes us beautiful.” Nate Moore is the producer. “For a long time, there seemed to be an unspoken rule that diverse casts wouldn’t draw people to theatres, and I don’t think that’s true,” Moore says. 

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