Marvel’s First Deaf Superhero Caused A 250% Increase In People Wanting To Learn Sign Language

Despite audiences giving Chloé Zhao’s Eternals the worst review of any Marvel movie in history, the inclusion of the MCU’s first deaf superhero has resulted in a huge spike in interest for sign language classes.

The Eternals tells the story of 10 immortal aliens with superhuman powers, who have lived on Earth undetected for years. After coming to the planet at the dawn of civilisation to protect people against creatures called Deviants, the Eternals were forced to reunite after the Deviants returned.

Played by hearing-impaired The Walking Dead star Lauren Ridloff, Makkari is a deaf member of this team who communicates solely with the other Eternals by using American Sign Language (ASL).

And as Makkari is super fast, being unable to hear makes her immune to the sonic booms she creates when breaking the sound barrier with her superhuman speeds.

Proving that representation really is important, online learning service Preply found that there has actually been a 250 percent spike in searches for “learn sign language for beginners” this year thanks to the addition of deaf superhero Makkari to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

First reported in the Independent, not only did Makkari boost the Google searches for those seeking out beginners sign language classes, but searches for Lauren Ridloff also shot up by 550 percent in the last week, too.

There has been a 250% increase in inquiries on learning sign language thanks to Lauren Ridloff's #Makkari in #Eternals

(via @Independent) pic.twitter.com/Vy9ZkfLFoG

— Culture Crave ? (@CultureCrave) November 9, 2021

Chatting to Variety last week about deaf representation on screen, Ridloff shared how happy she was for others in the hard of hearing community to be able to see what she waited a lifetime for.

“It felt like a lifetime of waiting,” she told Variety through an ASL interpreter. “I didn’t really see anyone like myself ever represented on the screen.”

“Finally seeing Makkari appear on the screen — wow,” she said. “It was definitely life-changing. And I hope that this has the same impact on different communities, people who have been marginalized or are underrepresented in this industry.”

“From the deaf and hard of hearing community, the response has been very positive. I feel like a lot of people are thrilled just to see a deaf person of color in the movie.”

Ridloff also shared how refreshing it was to have a director like Chloé Zhao, who normalised being hearing impaired by making the Eternals cast diverse without having it take over the plot of the movie.

“What I love most about Chloé and this movie is there’s diversity on the screen without actually having that become the point of the story,” Ridloff said. “It just is. It’s just like the real world.”

“I think that was what was so exciting to see, people who were just different. They have different interests, different abilities.”

Despite Eternals receiving a B grade from CinemaScore — the lowest of any Marvel film in history — and a 48 percent Rotten Tomatoes critic score, the superhero still flick managed to fetch $161 million ($220 million AUD) at the box office during its opening weekend.

These mammoth numbers along with the clear increased interest in learning sign language demonstrate just how important a character like Makkari in Eternals really is — and the true power authentic representation holds.

Thankfully in recent years, Hollywood has understood the importance of telling stories from a deaf perspective and with deaf actors.

A Quiet Place starred deaf actress Millicent Simmonds and made audiences experience what being deaf is like in a horror movie setting, CODA and Sound of Metal both focused on the lives of the hearing impaired and those related to them, and, most recently, Only Murders In The Building aired an episode that was entirely told from a deaf character’s perspective.