Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe FINALLY Ready for a Gay Superhero?

We’re excited as hell for Captain Marvel, but it’s never too early to look to the future when it comes to the MCU.

And it looks like the future might be a little gayer.

According to The Hashtag Show, Marvel is searching for an openly gay actor to join the cast of The Eternals.

Supposedly the studio is looking for an actor between the ages of 30 and 49, who “physically looks like a superhero,” and will play one of the leads.

“While the studio is open to actors of all ethnicity, they would prefer the role to go to an openly gay actor,” THS reports.

Not much is known about the planned plot of The Eternals, yet, but in the comics, Eternals are a genetically enhanced offshoot of the evolutionary process that ultimately created humanity, intended to be protectors of Earth.

The main characters from the comics expected to be brought into the film are Sersi and Ikaris, along with a lead called Piper, though someone by that name doesn’t currently exist in the comics.

It’s unclear yet whether the openly gay actor the MCU is reportedly searching for will play one of these roles, or an additional one.

It’s also unclear whether the role itself will be gay, or if, taking the more cynical view, Marvel is just hoping an openly gay actor will cause the LGBTQ community to read the character as gay and stand in for real representation.

The MCU has been notoriously lacking in LGBTQ representation so far (despite all the times we come up with queer ships anyway), but studio president Kevin Feige previously said that they were working towards changing that.

The Eternals is slated to be released in 2020, but hopefully we won't have to wait that long to find out if we're finally getting a tiny slice of the LGBTQ representation in superhero films we deserve.