Salma Hayek Reacts to 'Eternals' Breaking Molds With A Super Hero Sex Scene

Prior to Eternals, Marvel released a whopping 26 films. However, in those initial 26 movies, there was never any sex between super heroes.

Now, however, under the leadership and direction of Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, the times have changed and intimate moments between super heroes could soon become commonplace.

That said, Madden, who is featured as a character named Ikaris, didn't seem too interested in making a big deal of the Marvel milestone, saying that putting a spotlight on super hero sex is “just kind of crass.”

Rather than pinpoint the film's sex scene between super heroes, Madden said he preferred to refer to the scene between his character and the character of Gemma Chan, Sersi, as an “intimate moment.”

“We’re trying to tell a love story and we’re trying to show an intimacy and a delicacy of people that have been together for many, many years,” Madden said of the film's characters.

As the actor explained, Ikaris and Sersi's intimate moment marked a “huge part of the start of their relationship.”

The characters of Madden and Chan have reportedly been in love for thousands of years and spent may of those years fighting back against their rivals, the Deviants.

“It’s a beautiful insight into this world,” he continued. “And you know, in our heads as actors, I can think it’s very much less about superheroes doing this thing and more about two characters sharing an intimate moment.”

While Eternals did extremely well at the box office, capturing $71 million domestically, there has been some criticism over the film's sex scene.

As the AP News explained, the issue some are having with the sex scenes is that they were put into a film franchise that tends to appeal to children.

According to the report, Eternals was given a PG-13 rating due in part to the “brief sexuality" seen between Madden and Chan.

In response to the backlash, Hayek, who portrays Ajak in the film, said director Zhao was a very “elegant filmmaker.”

“There is an elegance to it,” Hayek added of the sex scene. “It is the love between a man and a women, the love between a man and a man. The love of duty. The love of planet Earth, the love of friendship, the love of parenthood. You know, it explores love in many different ways. Why wouldn’t there be a love scene?”