Another super-powered group of individuals dating back a few thousand years ago, the Eternals will finally be making their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in their very own titular film with a star-studded ensemble and an Oscar-award winning director Chloé Zhao. To know them better, let's dig deep into their origin and how they came about in the universe.
Who are the Eternals?
The Eternals we'll be seeing in the film would definitely be those who lived in the shadows of the Earth blending in with people for thousands of years. They belong to a cosmic race of beings that are god-like giving them abilities and power beyond those of humans. They witnessed civilizations form and die that they were able to shape history unknowing to people.
They live a lowkey life on Earth but have cosmic powers within them, so powerful that they could merge together into the Uni-Mind, also known as The Intellect, where they combine their personas into one powerful being which could channel directly to their creators, the Celestials.
What is The Origin of the Eternals?
Created by Jack Kirby, The Eternals, homo immortalis, were born from other Eternals chosen by the Prime Eternal for reproduction. They were created by the Celestials when they paid Earth a visit a million years ago where they had genetic experiments with humans resulting to two races, the Eternals and the Deviants who were monster-like and genetically unstable creatures.
The Eternals were the gene pool of perfection as all of them are in perfect shape, perfect appearance, and with cosmic powers. This isn't the first time we heard of the Celestials. We've seen some throughout the history lessons in the MCU. The Celestials are giant humanoids who lorded over races predating the Asgardians.
On various occasions, the Celestials have been discussed in the MCU like when The Collector was explaining to the Guardians of The Galaxy the Power Stone where a Celestial named Eson used the Power Stone to "judge" and eradicate civilizations thousands of years before, and when Nebula called Vormir the center of "Celestial Civilization." The place Knowhere was also believed to be the skull of a Celestial.
The MCU even introduced a Celestial, Ego, the father of Peter Quill. In Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2, it was explained that Ego had some experimenting on his own in seeding a child by planting on various planets and meeting with various women from different races, children which we learned, later on, were killed for not possessing the powers he wanted them to have.
The MCU also, kind of, introduced already its first Eternal. See, their first home city as Titanos. Is that name ringing some bells? You got that right. Thanos is an Eternal. But why is he all tall and purple? There's a syndrome called the Deviant Syndrome where those Eternals from Titan were affected by it making them like Deviants, explaining why he acts like that as well.
In the case of the Eternals, they had a longstanding and ancient conflict with the Deviants and they are protecting humans from the genetically unstable race. In a pending threat to mankind, they gather again to fulfill their promise to protect Earth and the human race.
Excited to see them in action? Eternals premieres on November 5, 2021.
Related: Eternals' Angelina Jolie Reveals She Already Saw the Full Trailer, Praises Chloe Zhao