Richard Madden is pretty stoked Marvel featuring its first openly gay character in his upcoming film, The Eternals.
Madden spoke about the matter while he attended the British GQ Men of the Year Awards last Tuesday held in London, England. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight the actor expresses the importance of having a member of the LGBTQ community prominently featured in the film’s storyline and the diversity.
“I think it’s hugely important, just the cast is so diverse,” Madden stated. “I’m a white male actor and not in the majority of this cast. I’m the minority, which is important in terms of diversity in filmmaking. I think Marvel is really at the forefront of that.”
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed the appearance of the said character in a sit-down interview on Good Morning America a week ago. While Feige refrained from sharing any telling details about the character, he did say that “He’s married, he’s got a family…”
Another exciting thing about The Eternals worth noting is that Madden and Kit Harington will be reuniting in the film. The pair played Robb Stark and Jon Snow subsequently in the hit HBO show, Game of Thrones. While Madden will be playing Ikaris — one of the titular Eternals — Harington will be wielding a sword once again as he plays the Black Knight in the forthcoming film.
Also in the star-studded ensemble cast is A-lister Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani Brian, Tyree Henry, Barry Keoghan, and Ma Dong-Seok.
Marvel Studios previously announced the release date for The Eternals, it will be hitting theaters November 6, next year.