Marvel’s Eternals has been in the works for a while, and like most of Hollywood’s output was delayed this past year as well. But now it is definitely coming, and the final trailer has been released.
Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) directs Marvel’s Eternals, and none other than Angelina Jolie stars in the film along with Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, and more. Angelina Jolie plays Thena, Richard Madden is Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani is Kingo, Lauren Ridloff is Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry is Phastos, Salma Hayek is Ajak, and Lia McHugh is Sprite. Kit Harington plays Dane Whitman, who becomes the Avenger known as the Black Knight eventually (in the Marvel comics at least).
But who exactly are the Eternals? Let’s dig into their comics history and how they fit into the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe. And for even more on the film, head here for an explanation on who the probable main villains are, Kro and Arishem the Judge.
Marvel’s The Eternals: The Basics
The Eternals are a powerful race of cosmic beings who have existed in our solar system for millions of years. While most Eternals look perfectly human on the outside, their advanced biology gives them incredible strength, long lives and powers that set them far above mortal men.
Both the Eternals and their genetic cousins, the Deviants, were created by the cosmic gods known as the Celestials through experiments on early proto-humans. And where most Eternals have chosen to follow the path of peace, the Deviants are hateful and warlike, with their hideous outer appearance reflecting their twisted inner nature. The two races have been locked in a never-ending war since those early days, with humanity sometimes paying the price.
The Eternals’ Powers and Abilities
All Eternals share a basic range of abilities. Their bodies are incredibly resilient and resistant to age and disease. They can also regenerate from most wounds. It takes a lot of planning and effort to kill an Eternal.
Eternals have the potential to develop many superhuman abilities, including super-strength, flight, telepathy, force field generation and transmutation. However, most tend to focus on honing specific abilities. For example, Ikaris has incredibly attuned senses, while Makkari’s signature ability is to run at great speeds and Sersi can manipulate objects on the atomic level.
The Eternals also have the ability to merge their bodies and powers to form a powerful psychic construct called the Uni-Mind.
The Eternals: Origin and Background
The Eternals is one of many Marvel properties created by artist Jack Kirby. These characters made their debut in 1976’s The Eternals #1, as Kirby returned to Marvel after a brief period working at DC Comics instead. The new series allowed Kirby to explore similar themes and ideas to that of his unfinished Fourth World saga, including the idea of two advanced cosmic races locked in a never-ending war. The series also showed a clear influence from writer Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End.
Unfortunately, The Eternals didn’t find the audience many of Kirby’ s prior Marvel projects did, and the series was canceled before his story could be finished. Eventually, writers Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald resolved some of those loose ends in the pages of The Mighty Thor. That Thor/Eternals crossover paved the way for these characters to begin taking a more active role in the larger Marvel Universe.
These early stories established the general history of the Eternals, their relationship to the Deviants and major heroes like Ikaris, Sersei and Makkari. As readers learned, these heroes impersonated the gods of Greek and Roman mythology, gaining worshipers on those rare occasions when they actually revealed themselves to mankind.
The early Eternals comics also revealed that there are multiple branches of the Eternals family scattered throughout the solar system. The Eternals were originally divided after a war between brothers Kronos and Uranos, with the former maintaining a peaceful settlement on Earth and the latter’s more warlike faction establishing a colony on Uranus. The Eternals of Earth were further divided when Kronos was killed in an accident and his sons were forced to rule in his stead. Zuras became the Eternals’ new ruler, while A’lars traveled to the moon of Titan, married a woman named Sui-San and rebuilt that ruined world.
If the name “A’lars” rings a bell, he also happens to be the father of Thanos, easily the most well-known of the Eternals. Thanos carries the Deviant gene, explaining why his appearance and nature are so much more twisted than that of his family.
The Eternals have sporadically appeared in various short-lived comic book series in the decades since. Writer Peter B. Gillis and artist Sal Buscema relaunched the series in 1985, which ran for 12 issues. In 2000, a one-shot comic called New Eternals: Apocalypse Now #1 chronicled an older conflict between the Eternals and X-Men villain Apocalypse. In 2003, writer Chuck Austen and artist Kev Walker rebooted the franchise for Marvel’s mature readers-focused MAX imprint, resulting in The Eternal.
But Marvel’s most ambitious revamp, of the franchise came in 2006, when writer Neil Gaiman and artist John Romita, Jr. crafted a seven-issue, new reader-friendly take on the franchise. That series later spawned a new ongoing Eternals comic, though it was canceled after only nine issues.
The Eternals Movie: Beyond the Comics
Despite being over 40 years old at this point, the Eternals franchise has had almost no exposure outside of Marvel’s comics. The franchise’s only non-comic book appearance to date is in the form of a 2014 Marvel Knights Animation series, where the Gaiman/Romita comic was converted into a motion comic with animation and sound effects. Several Eternals characters also appeared in the free-to-play video game Marvel Heroes, including Ikaris and Sersi.
But while the Eternals as a whole have been left out of Marvel’s various multimedia projects, Thanos himself has been given plenty of exposure. The character of course played a starring role in Avengers: Infinity War (played by Josh Brolin) and Avengers: Endgame. Infinity War also makes reference to Thanos’ father A’lars and showcases the abandoned moon of Titan.
Those films set the stage for the Eternals movie in Phase 4 of the MCU. At one point, Marvel’s Kevin Feige hinted that the movie was in development, with rumors indicating that Sersi will be its central character. In May 2018, Matthew and Ryan Firpo were hired to pen the screenplay, and in September of 2018 The Rider director Chloe Zhao was tapped to helm the film. In March, 2019, THR reported that Angelina Jolie was in talks to star in the film and that “one aspect to the story involves the love story between Ikaris, a man fueled by cosmic energy, and Sersi, who relishes moving amongst humans.”
The Eternals movie will finally be released on November 5, 2021, as part of the MCU’s Phase 4.
August 19, 2021: This story has been updated to reflect the latest developments regarding Marvel’s Eternals movie.
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
