'Eternals' will have the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first onscreen LGBT kiss

Brian Tyree Henry's character, Phastos, will be the first openly gay character in a Marvel movie.

For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's fair to say that 'Eternals' is going to be something of a game-changer.

It'll be the first team-up movie in the franchise that won't feature Iron Man, Captain America and probably have glancing references to the Avengers. That in itself is pretty crazy, but what's more important is that 'Eternals' will feature the first openly-gay character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What's more, the movie will also feature the first onscreen kiss between two openly-gay characters, too. Brian Tyree Henry, who people will know from the likes of HBO's 'Atlanta' and the Oscar-nominated 'If Beale Street Could Talk', plays Phastos - the first openly gay character in a Marvel movie.

His on-screen husband, played by Haaz Sleiman, recently described the scene where the two share a kiss to NewNowNext. "It's a beautiful, very moving kiss," he said.

"Everyone cried on set. For me, it’s very important to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be. Brian Tyree Henry is such a tremendous actor and brought so much beauty into this part, and at one point I saw a child in his eyes, and I think it’s important for the world to be reminded that we in the queer community were all children at one point," Sleiman explained. "We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious; we forget to connect on that human part."

Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige had previously announced that 'Eternals' would feature an LGBT character, saying that the unnamed character was "married (to another man), he’s got a family, and that is just part of who he is."

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there's been some questioning over whether certain characters are or were gay, lesbian or bisexual. Tessa Thompson, who plays Valkyrie in 'Thor: Ragnarok', said that she considered the character to be LGBT, although there were no overt references to it in the movie or in 'Avengers: Endgame'.

'Eternals' arrives in Irish cinemas on November 6.