Whether you fell in love with queer, Lebanese-American actor Haaz Sleiman on Nurse Jackie, 24, or Jack Ryan, one thing is quite clear: there’s no resisting his versatile charm. It’s no wonder, then, that Marvel tapped Sleiman to portray superhero Phastos’s husband in the upcoming Eternals adaptation.
Speaking to NewNowNext about his new romantic comedy Breaking Fast and the upcoming Marvel film — which was originally slated for a 2020 release before COVID hit — Sleiman expressed excitement about the film’s potential to reach new viewers. Starring If Beale Street Could Talk… and Atlanta actor Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first openly gay, partnered superhero, Eternals follows a group of superhumans who must fight against their enemies, the Deviants, to protect the world from falling into chaos.
Eternals is Sleiman’s first Marvel movie, and the actor expressed his “gut feeling” that the queer community will be proud of the MCU’s treatment of its first out-gay couple. “Phastos is one of the biggest superheroes in the film,” Sleiman said in the interview. “I’m his husband, an architect; we have a child.”
In a since-deleted NewNowNext video from February 2020, Sleiman also added that the couple shares a passionate onscreen kiss. The kiss was so heartfelt, in fact, that Sleiman recalls how “everyone cried on set’ during the filming.
Although the hotly-anticipated Thor 4 drew headlines in 2019 for starring the MCU’s first openly queer character in the form of bisexual icon Tessa Thompson’s queer Asgardian warrior Valkyrie, the film has been put on hold for a February 11, 2022 release date, allowing for the upcoming Eternals to take its place as the first MCU film to feature an out-gay superhero who actually gets an onscreen kiss. Additionally, Eternals will be the first MCU property to shine the spotlight on Phastos’ queer family.
Regarding this fully fleshed-out portrayal, Sleiman added: “We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.”
In a 2020 Variety “Actors on Actors” interview with “Ramy” auteur and comedian Ramy Youssef, Tessa Thompson herself spoke on the new direction Marvel is taking to open up its cinematic universe to queer, diverse portrayals of well-known superheroes. “I think in this next phase of Marvel, we’re really talking about what representation looks like in those spaces,” she explained, “because the truth is these movies travel globally in such huge ways, and if you can represent people that are of color, if you can represent people with disabilities, if you can represent the LGBTQIA community inside of these films, it’s a pretty big deal.”
Eternals seems to be following through with this “phase four” tactic to great effect. In addition to Sleiman, the film’s star-studded cast includes performances by Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kit Harrington.
Eternals is currently slated for a November 21, 2021 release date.
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