Eternals is the 26th movie in the MCU. Photo / Supplied
Eternals is the 26th movie in the MCU. Photo / Supplied
In the 25 movies released so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there has been plenty of sexual chemistry.
Even more flirting, bedroom eyes, innuendo and double entendres. And pre-Pepper, we were led to believe that Tony Stark was the randy sort.
But what has never before happened is a real sex scene.
Iron Man was the closest, with Stark and Leslie Bibb's Christine Everhart, fully dressed and rolling around and off the bed, before cutting to the aftermath and that strategically draped bed sheet.
Despite the violence and even occasional bloodshed, the Marvel movies have generally been pretty kid-friendly, which means they have been as chaste as any character The Rock has ever played.
That changes with Eternals, the 26th movie in the MCU, which releases on November 4 in New Zealand.
Eternals features Marvel's first ever sex scene, and there's no cutting away this time – the camera stays on the two main characters as they consummate their passion.
From left, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Chloe Zhao, Kit Harington, and Gemma Chan Pose during a photo call for the movie Eternals at the 16th edition of the Rome Film Fest in Rome. Photo / AP
Eternals director Chloe Zhao told Indiewire there were a lot of discussions about how to present the scene.
"From that moment to what you see onscreen there was definitely a lot of discussion about how to do it," she said. "But I think the desire to do something different is a very natural desire for where Marvel Studios is right now.
"I think it's like Westerns coming into the revisionist period of the 70s. I think that's happening to superhero films – or at least we're on the edge of that, and so these scenes just started to happen naturally.
"For us to be able to show two people who love each other, not just emotionally and intellectually but also physically, and to have a sex scene that will be seen by a lot of people that shows their love and compassion and gentleness – I think it's a really beautiful thing."
Eternals features an ensemble cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Brian Tyree Henry and Kumail Nanjiani.
Angelina Jolie in the Eternals movie.
It tells the story of a group of immortal beings who have been present on Earth for 7000 years.
While Marvel movies have been sexless up until now, that's not been the case for Marvel TV projects that predate this year when the TV arm was rebirthed on Disney+.
Previously, under a different leadership and corporate structure, Marvel Television was a little more removed from the films even though they were ostensibly part of the same universe.
Among the TV projects at the time were a series of interconnected Netflix shows featuring characters including Daredevil, The Punisher and Jessica Jones.
These grittier series featured sex scenes, including one in Jessica Jones in which the super-powered Jones and Luke Cage broke the bed from their amorous antics.
