Actress Lauren Ridloff is breaking new ground in her role as Marvel's first deaf superhero in Eternals

As superheroes go she’s pretty kick-ass: she’s super-fast and super-strong, she can defy gravity, run on water and even create cyclones.

But one thing sets Makkari apart from her fellow superheroes in Marvel’s latest blockbuster, Eternals: she lives in a world of utter silence. 

Makkari, a cynical yet kind immortal who has occupied Earth for seven centuries, communicates with her fellows using sign language – which is worlds apart from the comic books in which her character is depicted as a hefty, hearing white man.