Eternals Producer Explains How Marvel Got Away With A Sex Scene

Marvel’s Eternals has gotten plenty of publicity (and some controversy) for being the first film in the Disney/Marvel catalog to feature an onscreen same-sex kiss, but there’s actually a much more salacious “first” that Eternals pulls off for the franchise: the inclusion of Marvel Studios’ first sex scene! (Warning! Eternals Spoilers Follow!) The scene in question is between Eternals members Ikaris (Richard Madden) and Sersei (Gemma Chan) who become lovers and soulmates across their centuries on Earth together. So how did Marvel Studios finally get away with showing two superheroes doing the deed? 

Eternals and Black Panther producer Nate Moore spoke with Comicbook.com’s Phase Zero Marvel podcast, and helped shine light on how the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first sex scene came about (no pun): 

“Chloé [Zhao} was very adamant about it because she wanted that relationship to feel real and not PG,” Moore explains. “And even in the development phase of the movie, we thought the Eternals would be a bit more evolved about sexuality than you, or I, or ratings boards. You know what I mean? It felt disingenuous to be like, oh, and these people also just hold hands all the time. Like they’re 7,000 years old guys.”

The main reason that Eternals was ultimately allowed to go with its sex scene? The time-honored Disney tradition of true love! 

“And again, our attempt was to build the movie around this love story between these two people,” Moore continues. “That [sex] is very much part of love – we could pretend it’s not, I suppose, but it is. So to have that actually being filmed felt important and to do it tastefully – of which Chloé was always interested in, she never was trying to push the envelope in that way. But when we did show the cut to Disney, did we think we were going to get a note? Sure. Of course.

But they didn’t. But I will say they didn’t. They said, ‘Oh, well, we get it. Wow. First sex scene. Okay. Let’s go.’ And they never asked us to cut it shorter or to obscure anything. Like I think they understood the intent of it and because it wasn’t done in poor taste, I think, they were game.”

Now that Eternals has broken this barrier with its first sex scene (again, no pun), fans are already wondering where and when the MCU can get that hot and heavy again. The franchise has inspired so many fav-favorite “ships” that the list of potential love scenes is already pretty extensive. 

Eternals is now in theaters.