The Eternals come together at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Lia McHugh, Angelina Jolie, Don Lee and Lauren Ridloff.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images for Disney
Who are the Eternals?
They’re the next super-powered group to join the MCU, and Marvel Studios has amassed an impressive cast – including Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington and super fragrance Wolverine cosplayer Kumail Nanjiani – to get everyone interested in the 25th MCU movie. It was originally intended to release on November 6, 2020, but was initially delayed February 2021 and then until November 2021.
The official synopsis noted that the Eternals are “ancient aliens who have lived secretly on Earth for thousands of years.”
“After the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them from the shadows to reunite against humanity’s oldest enemy, The Deviants, ”it reads.
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In September, Zhao spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, highlighting how she brought her “deep, strong manga roots” into Eternals.
“I look forward to sparking more of that marriage between East and West,” she said, pointing out that the film is about the history of humanity. “How much farther and bigger can we go after Endgame?”
Actor Salma Hayek told Variety in January that Eternals was shot differently from previous Marvel films.
“It’s in real locations and they’ve found some crazy alien-looking locations,” she said.
There was a Brazil Comic Con Experience audience in December 2019 treated to the first images and saw the heroes in costume. Marvel Studios concept artist Rodney Fuentebella also shared some art with a third group, the massive Celestials.
Who is involved in the film?
The character descriptions are from Marvel’s official synopsis – poor Dane Whitman is apparently too boring for any hype. Or maybe it’s just mysterious.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige introduced cast and director Zhao to the Comic-Con Marvel Studios panel last summer. Zhao’s previous film, The Rider, got a score of 92 out of 100 on CNET sister site Metacritic.
The film will reunite Harington and Madden, who played Jon Snow and Robb Stark Game of Thrones. Gemma Chan previously appeared in the MCU as Captain Marvel’s Minn-Erva, but Sersi is a separate character.
In December, Nanjiani revealed the fruits of his training – and the intense regime it took to sustain it – to play swordsman Kingo in some super-buff Instagram photos. In March he has used that new physique impersonate Wolverine (replacing Hugh Jackman) and other iconic movie characters for a Men’s Health photo shoot.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I hadn’t had a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the largest studio in the world,” he wrote in his original Instagram caption. “I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I’ve never done it before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time.”
Lauren Ridloff, who you may know as Connie in The Walking Dead, will also play the MCU’s first deaf superhero. Her character, Makkari, is male in the comics.
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But what is even an Eternal, you wonder? Maybe you have already met one: Thanos. The large, purple mass murderer took center stage Avengers: Infinity War and took on a lot of heroes in Endgame. He’s an Eternal in the comics, but we don’t know yet if the same is true of his MCU counterpart.
Like it Captain Marvel and protectors of the universe, Eternals will be putting the spotlight on Marvel’s cosmic comic book characters.
Ikarus is played by Richard Madden. You know he’s an intense character because he shoots eye rays into the sky on the cover of the sixth issue of Marvel’s 2008 Eternals comic series.
Marvel comics
What is the History of the Eternals?
Thanos may be the only Eternal we’ve seen on screen, but Eternals have a comedic history dating back to 1976. They were created by Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, he created the same New gods for DC six years earlier.
In the comics, they are an evolutionary offshoot of humanity living on Earth, which has greater powers and a longer lifespan. The Celestials, a group of space gods, created them to defend Earth.
We’ve already seen a few Celestials in the protectors of the universe movies – most notably the space station Knowhere (actually the severed head of a Celestial) and Peter Quill’s father Ego (who took on human form) in the second Guardians movie.
For more information on the characters from the comics, check out the detailed explanations from our sister site ComicBook.com.
What else will come in phase 4?
Feige gave us tons of other movies to drool over at the San Diego Comic-Con 2019 MCU panel: Black Widow, Thor 4: Love and Thunder, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Blade.
Look at this:
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He also gave some details about the Marvel TV shows come to the Disney Plus streaming service: WandaVision, Loki, The Falcon and Winter Soldier, the animated What If …? and Hawkeye.
