It’s not a lie that I wasn’t sure what to think about the movie at first. But, this sneak peek got me excited.
The Eternals is the right group for you if you love mythology, history, and all things superhero.
We are going to get to know them better today as we explain to you The Top 20 Facts About The Eternals: A Guide to Marvel’s New Cosmic Universe.
This list is for those who are new to them, or for those who want to refresh their memory. It will get you ready for the adventures that await both in comics and on the big screen.
We are done! Let’s get counting.
First Appearance of the Eternals
Eternals, Jack Kirby’s creation, also has a clear connection to other work he did a few years before over in DC. Yes, the new gods.
Kirby was able to continue exploring similar themes and characters in The Eternals, which allowed him to continue exploring mythos gods and the cosmic realms of superhero stories.
Who doesn’t love to be a little more cosmic? Are you right?
Jack Kirby, appearing in New Gods Issue number one in 1971, created the dark gods. In 1976, the Eternals Issue one was their first publication.
We were also created by Kirby.
Thanos is also an Eternal
Thanos is in fact one of the Eternals. He is a Titanian Eternal but he is still one. Thanos was the son of the Titan Eternal Sui San and an eternal mentor from Earth.
Thanos has connections to not only the internals but also the kind of villains we believe they will be protecting Earth from in the MCU, The Deviants.
Thanos was born with the deviant disorder. This is a genetic mutation that can only be found in Titan Eternals. Thanos is thought to be the only immortal to have experienced this genetic mutation.
Although he is genetically altered by The Deviant Syndrome, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t appear alongside the deviance in MCU. They are both quite distinct, even though they share the same name Thanos for his condition, The Deviant syndrome.
It’s possible that it might be mentioned in the MCU. I do not know if that will happen, but I think that Thanos would be very happy to have that connection. It would be very cool.
Who are the Celestials?
It is important to remember that the Eternals were created by The Celestials.
The Celestials arrived on earth and selected a prehistoric tribe to alter and manipulate their technology and power.
The Eternals were granted great cosmic power, which allowed them to control every atom and every molecule in their bodies over time.
They became almost immortal as a result. It was believed that even if their bodies were destroyed and scattered they could resurrect or be resurrected.
Who is the Villain in The Eternals?
The Eternals will face their main enemy in the film, The Deviants.
But who exactly are these deviants? Exactly?
In Eternals Issue number 1, the Deviants were the first to appear as enemies of the Eternals.
They also made a retcon debut in 1940 in Red Raven Comics.
However, that was before they had character creation.
They were created by the Celestials in the same time as The Eternals from prehistoric human beings. However, the Eternals gave cosmic power to the Eternals groups of ape-like human beings that returned to the Eternals.
Instead, the Deviants had their DNA unstabilized which led to many extreme mutations. The Deviants’ offspring, if any, were also unstabilized, which meant that their children, if any, would look very different from their parents.
The Deviants were often referred to as monsters by the Eternals and they saw The Eternals both as their enemies and as their rivals.
You Are Not Alone in The Cosmos
As was evident in the Titan internals, of which Sui San was the sole progenitor. We are not the only ones in the cosmos, according to the Eternals we know from Earth.
They weren’t the only ones on Earth, as they also had the deviants. And they weren’t the only ones in the universe. Many other planets of interest had their own subspecies.
Two of the most well-known alien races were the Cree (and Skrulls) who had their own Eternals.
Celestials created both of these groups by selecting a few ancient ancestors from those alien races while they visited their home planets millions to billions of years ago. They then experimented with them to create The Eternals.
There are many alien races of Eternals. You get Eternals and some Eternals in your back.
Who are The Eternal Members?
Who are The Eternals?
We know their origins and know about other Eternal groups in the Marvel universe, but who are these earth heroes that we now know as the Eternals Would we be able to recognize them from history or myths if we were to see them?
Some of the original Eternals included Icarus who shared connections with Noah through his arc from The Bible and the Greek hero Theseus.
I’m not sure if there are any similarities to Icarus from Greek myth.
- Sersi has a connection with the mythical sorceress Cersei. However, their names are different.
2. Zuras is often compared with the Greek gods Zeus.
3. His Thenaoften mirrored the daughter of Zeus, goddess Athena.
4. Kingo was originally a samurai who became a famous action movie star.
5. Makkari was originally the sons of The Eternals and Verona.
6. Phastos was once thought to be the Greek God Hephaestus and blacksmith.
7. Ajak is mistakenly identified as the Greek hero and warrior Ajax.
8. Ajak’s brother Sprite, frequently mistook for Shakespeare’s puck in the literary character Peter Pan.
9. Gilgamesh, who was historically the great leader in Gilgamesh and is often confused with mythological heroes Samson or Hercules.
10. The more evil eternal Druig cousin to Icarus and once a famous KGB agent.
These are just a few of the Eternals. This is not all.
You might also have noticed some changes to the MCU versions of their origin stories, genders and stories.
Why did the Celestials create The Eternals?
Hence, why did The Celestials create The Eternals
Some might wonder if it was a Mad Science Experiment, or just for fun with all the powerful cosmic beings.
Initial beliefs of The Eternals were that they were created to protect Earth’s heroes and protectors. This is why The Deviants and eternals get into conflict.
According to the Deviants, they believed they were meant to inherit earth from one of their celestial creators.
This promise was broken later and discarded by Celestials. They waged constant war against their rival subspecies The Eternals.
Eternals are often thought to be mythical heroes and Gods. However, the Deviants, who often appear in Legends as monsters that were defeated and imprisoned in Legends, have been part of this mythos throughout history.
The Real Purpose of Eternals
During Jason Aaron’s tenure on The Avengers, 2018, The Eternals’ true purpose was revealed.
We find out their dark secrets in Issue 4, and how they murdered one another or took their own lives.
They were created by the Celestials to protect Earth. However, they can only cultivate it.
It turned out that Earth and The Eternals had been seen as a weapon against The Horde.
The Horde is an alien race that looks a lot like insects and acts as an opposition force to the celestials in the cosmos.
They offer a balance.
The Celestials can be seen as a force for creation and The Horde as a force for destruction.
After believing that they were meant to protect Earth for millennia they discovered they had been driven mad by this revelation. They destroyed each other and themselves in a fit rage, turmoil, and sheer agony.
I suppose eternals can only be immortal if they choose.
The Eternals were in Marvel comics from 1976. They are also in canon history, or an ancient subspecies created by these Celestials. They have existed since prehistoric times.
Chariots of Gods
We have already spoken about the relationship between The Eternals and the new gods when it came to Godlike super-teams with mythological, yet cosmically inspired ties.
We now need to find out where those inspirations came from, other than the obvious sources of mythology and lore that are part of ancient history.
Chariots Of The Gods, a book by Erich Von Daniken from 1968 is called. Jack Kirby may have been inspired by it in some way when he created the Eternals.
This book examines the possibility that the greatest technological and religious achievements of humanity could actually have been created by Ancient Aliens who visited our planet.
This theory is still valid today, and it fits in with Kirby’s fiction about aliens from another planet could have influenced our creation of heroes of myth and gods.
Who’s Who In The MCU
We spoke briefly about some of our comics’ cosmically super-powered heroes.
But which Eternals will appear in the film?
They will be played by
What are the differences between these characters in MCU?
- Gemma Chan, who played Minerva in Captain Marvel’s previous film, will again be in the MCU but more prominently as Elternal Sersi.
- Angelina Jolie is playing Thena. A daughter of Zuras, one of the Eternals’ leaders and believed to be Athena the Greek goddess.
- Richard Madden, another well-known Eternals leader from comics, Ikaris. Madden is best known for portraying Rob Stark on Game of Thrones.
- Kumail Nanjiani is Kingo. In the comics, Kingo was a samurai war hero who became an action movie star. His character has been slightly altered for the MCU. Kingo will be an iconic film star but will be best known for his Bollywood roles.
- Lauren Rudolph plays Makkari. Makkari, the original comics character, was a male. However, the MCU version of Makkari will be a female. She is also the first deaf superhero to be confirmed in the MCU.
- Brian Tyree Henry, Phastos. Who will be the first superhero to openly identify as gay in the MCU?
- Salmahayek will be Ajak. Ajak was a character that was originally depicted as a male in comics. However, the MCU version of Ajak will be a female.
- Lia McHugh, Sprite is often the most mischievous member The Eternals.
- Don Lee plays Gilgamesh. He will bevery close to Thena.
- Barry Keoghan will play the Druig, who is often more evil.
- Game of Thrones’ star Kit Harington plays the role of Dane Whitman (a non-Eternal who becomes a hero called Black Knight).
- We hope to see a few more Eternals in the movie.
Marvel Max comics
Marvel Max was a series that the Eternals created. You can just imagine it.
This happened in 2003. It was not tied to Jack Kirby’s creations except that the Eternals seem to be another race and were still called The Eternals.
There were still Deviants, but that’s it.
It was violent, hypersexual, and as bizarre as you can imagine. The Eternals’ version only lasted six issues. It was not well-received, but we would see a well-received reboot of the main continuity eternal series in 2006.
Eternals (Volume 3 – 2006)
Let’s now talk about this incredible series. Neil Gaiman Jr. and John Romita Jr. brought us the third volume of Eternals, a limited seven-issue series.
It begins in a very mythological and game-like fashion, with internals living among humans, seemingly unaware about their past or powers. They would eventually remember who they were, and the reasons why.
Rick Berry also designed the covers for this series. Sersi’s cover for issue #2 is the most iconic image I see when talking about her or me.
If you’ve ever seen anything where people talk about Sersi, you’ve likely seen this cover. They are all beautiful.
100 Eternals, 100 Deviants
100 seems to be the magic number, at least that’s what was stated in the Eternal series title page issue number 1.
It is said that the Celestials created 100 Eternals from their arrival on earth, and 100 Deviants before leaving our planet. They are likely to create Eternals elsewhere in this cosmos or make them go.
Whatever Celestials feel the need to do, even if they aren’t making Eternals and deviants.
Not all 100 Eternals are from the same area. In fact, they are split into different regions or factions depending upon where they come from, where they are located on Earth, and what other Eternals they choose to align with.
The Generations of The Eternals
Generational is another way to divide Eternals, since not all are the original Eternals. Many of the eternal characters we know are actually offspring of other Eternals.
Some Eternals are of the second or third generation, while others are in their fifth generation.
- Some people who were born prior to the fall of Titanos are considered first-generation.
- Cronus’s experiment is only for those who were born before that date. We consider them the second generation.
- The third generation is the ones born after the experiment.
- After what is known as the “coming of the second host”, the fourth generation was born.
- Lastly, there are the Eternals who were born after the arrival of the third host. These are the fifth generation.
UNI-MIND
The UNI-MIND is created when the Eternals come together.
At first, the Uni-Mind appeared as a maleless entity of pure energy. Only the leader of Eternals could create it.
Later, however, we discovered that the Uni-Mind can also be summoned forth when all the Eternals are present. They could even summon the Uni-Mind to do this, even though they didn’t know they were Eternals.
They were still living as human beings and had been made forget their true heritage. Eternals Volume 3 begins around Issue 2, but we also see the consequences in issues 3 and 4.
In this instance, the Uni-Mind was also born. This helped them to remember who they are.
Olympia: The Home of the Eternals
Olympia is the Eternal Home. It has been seen in several places around the world, but its main location is in Greece, on Mount Olympus.
It’s almost like you fell into it. However, I should clarify after explaining that there are 100 Eternals. The Celestials made Olympia their home.
The futuristic, technology-based, futuristic Olympia headquarters for the Eternals of Olympia makes sense, because Olympia is their home base.
This is often where the Eternals first awaken once again when they are resurrected.
Eternal Connection with The Avengers
The Eternals are heroes, but they are more than just that. They are allies to each other, and even best friends. Some members of The Eternals have teamed up or been a part of The Avengers.
Both Gilgamesh and Sersi were actually part of the Avengers team at one time.
After beingfriended by Captain America, Sersi was offered membership to The Avengers.
Gilgamesh joined Avengers briefly after Captain America lost his mantle to the US Agent. However, his time with the team was very brief. His service on the Avengers team is still considered to be the most powerful hero.
Principal Characters of the MCU
If you are unsure, you can start by reading your journals in preparation for the film.
According to some, Ikaris and Sersi were intended to be the main characters in the first Eternals movie. Those are the characters you should be familiar with.
Sersi is a frequent guest in the first volume, which began in issue 308 and continues until issue 375. She was also featured in many of the volumes one and two of Eternals.
Ikaris is present in all five volumes. You can start from the beginning of the year 2021 by starting with the latest volume.
Ikaris appears in volume one of Thor as a team member with the Eternals. It starts in issue 285 and continues almost continuously until issue 292.
These Comics You Can Read Before You Watch the Movie
The Eternals (Volume 2, 1985 )
The Eternals have had a difficult time getting their series off the ground floor.
If you’re unsure what to do to prepare for the film or just want to get into the wild, there are mortal and God-inspired worlds of the Eternal.
If you are interested, then you should check out the limited series Eternals Volume 2 from the 80s.
This 12 issue series, by Sam Buscema and Peter Gillis, expands on the Eternals’ lore.
After you’re done, you might also want to read Neil Gaiman’s The Eternals. It’s also very short. This Volume 3 dates back to the early 2000s.
Eternals ( Volume 5, 2021)
Recenty, the Eternals returned to Marvel Universe. They are back in Marvel Universe’s newest eternal series (Volume 5, 2021).
You can read more about their return here.
This is a great series that I recommend. It is also visually stunning.
Karen Gillan wrote the newest series, with art by Assad garbage and vivid and compelling colors by Matthew Wilson.