The Eternals: One Million Moms Boycotting Movie Over Same-Sex Kiss

It was but a matter of time before One Million Moms launched their boycott against The Eternals and as of Monday, that time has come. The hyper-Conservative group announced on its website that it plans to boycott the Chloe Zhao movie as a result of a same-sex kiss that’s purported to happen between two of the movie’s characters on-screen. The news of said event first surfaced in February after actor Haaz Sleiman let it slip in an interview he’d be playing the husband of Phastos, played by Atlanta alumnus Brian Tyree Henry.

The group — one that’s boycotted such properties in the past — says its boycott is to forewarn parents “so they are not caught off guard with this upcoming Marvel film.” Despite previous boycotts from the group, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grossed over $22 billion worldwide.

“Marvel has decided to be politically correct instead of providing family-friendly programming,” the group says in a release. In the same statement, the group launched a petition people could sign to partake in the boycott, although the group forgot to link the “Take Action” text to any petition web page.

According to Sleiman, the movement was so moved everyone to tears on the set of the upcoming Marvel blockbuster.

“I just shot a Marvel film with the first openly gay superhero, The Eternals. I’m married to the gay superhero Phastos, played by Atlanta‘s Brian Tyree Henry, and we represent a gay family and have a child,” Sleiman told LOGO’s NewNowNext.

“Oh, yeah, absolutely, and it’s a beautiful, very moving kiss. Everyone cried on set,” the actor added. “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. We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.”

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has previously said it’s always been the Burbank-based outfit’s desire to create a cinematic universe representative of the world we live in.

“Every time we do a movie, we hope it’s going to succeed so that we can make another movie. That’s always the idea,” Feige said at CCXP last year. “And with those two films in particular, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, we wanted to keep showcasing heroes from the comics that represent the world that goes to see our movies. So our intention was always to continue to do that. What’s exciting is that both those movies were such big hits that it squashed any sort of question otherwise, and I hope — and I think — it inspired other companies around the world to do the same thing and tell those different types of stories.”

The Eternals hits theaters November 6th.