Marvel’s Eternals introduces not just one new superhero into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a whole cosmic civilization’s worth of heroes. The film, directed by recent Oscar winner Chloé Zhao , will explore the lore of the Eternals, the Deviants and the Celestials who created them both, focusing mostly on the former.
The Eternals are a race of genetically advanced humanoid beings who can, to various extents, control the physiology of their own bodies and the makeup of the worlds around them. These are the Eternals, their backstories and abilities.
Sersi Makes Doctor Strange Look Like a Novice Sorcerer
Sersi (Gemma Chan) might very well be the most powerful and vulnerable of the Eternals, and that’s probably why Kevin Feige and company put her at the center of the movie. She’s been living on Earth and will be working in the museum industry (a curiously common job for female supers in disguise) during Eternals’ present day storyline. Sersi has a soft spot for humanity, as is evident by her career and her personal life. That empathy for humans could be seen as a strength or a weakness, and it could also be what leads to a rumored love triangle between Sersi, Ikaris and Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. But anyone facing off against her will have to contend with her transmutational powers. In what looks like magic to the people of Earth, Sersi can rearrange the molecular structure of things to suit her will, and like all Eternals, she’s faster, stronger and more resilient than humans.
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Ajak Is a Leader in More Ways Than One
Ajak (Salma Hayek) has been gender swapped for Zhao’s film, but her role within the Eternals remains largely the same. Many millennia old, she functions as the team’s spiritual leader. It seems she’s also become a religious figure somewhere in Central or South America, where the locals (sort of) mistake her for a god. Like other Eternals, she has far greater physical abilities than human beings, including teleportation and the use of energy beams. She can also control cellular regeneration, giving her the power to heal herself and others. But her most essential skill is that of divine communication with the Celestials, the ancient beings who engineered the Eternals.
Ikaris Has the Power of Flight – And Much More
In Marvel comics lore, Ikaris (Richard Madden) is the father of the Icarus, the character from Greek Mythology who flies too close to the sun with his magical wings. After his son died, Ikaris took his name and his original name has never been revealed. He has extreme physical abilities, even compared to other Eternals. He’s faster, stronger, able to withstand intense temperatures and force. It’s practically impossible to wear him out or injure him. Though he also possesses psychic abilities, he is not as adept as his counterparts in those areas. Ikaris and Sersi have been in love for many lifetimes, but the presence of the Black Knight in Eternals poses a problem for the couple. And as the end of the trailer suggests, he’s not known for his humility.
Thena Is an Expert Warrior and Scholar
Born thousands of years ago with the name Azura, her father, Zuras, changed it to Thena (Angelina Jolie) as part of a treaty with Zeus and the Olympian gods so that Thena could serve as Athena’s stand-in on Earth. Thena is both a scholar and a warrior, making her a valuable addition to the squad. Along with the standard Eternals’ cosmic and psychic powers, she’s an expert crafter and wielder of otherworldly weapons. But according to a potential plot leak, she’s been having problems with her memory as of late and might have been exiled because of it, an issue which will heavily factor into Eternals’ plot.
Gilgamesh Has the Power of Strength – and Kindness
The Eternals’ strongman, Gilgamesh (Don Lee) is Marvel’s take on the Mesopotamian legend from ancient epic poetry. He is a do-gooder demigod with superhuman strength and a fondness for Earth dwellers, in the same vein as Hercules. He’s also a master of melee, and is resistant to attack thanks to a cosmic exoskeleton. Gilgamesh is not only the strongest, but the most affable of the Eternals. He often teams up with Thena and Sprite, though his absence from the group for some time earned him the moniker “The Forgotten One.”
Makkari Could Outrun Most Other Speedsters
Makkari is the Eternals’ speedster, but the casting of Lauren Ridloff changed the character in several interesting ways. Ridloff is a woman of color and a member of the deaf community. Marvel assigned Makkari all these characteristics in the film, whereas in the comics, Makkari has been portrayed as a white hearing man. It’s an improvement: without being able to hear, Makkari is unaffected by the sonic blasts she creates when using her super speed to scout out planets. Like Thena, she was also well-educated in the ancient world.
Kingo Can Blast Energy From His Hands
While most Eternals try to lay low, Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) has been living the high life, not as a god but as a star. In the movie, he’s become famous as a Bollywood actor, while in the comics, he’s historically been of Japanese descent and made a name for himself working in samurai films. Less is known about how Kingo will operate in the world of Zhao’s Eternals because of this change. He may or may not still have his swords, but it seems he will still have the ability to emit cosmic energy from his hands.
Sprite Creates Illusions
Sprite (Lia McHugh) might look like a 12 year old kid, but she’s actually one of the most capable Eternals, and the third in the cast to be gender flipped for the film. Previously, Sprite has been depicted as a young, male, playful trickster who could skew good or evil. This Sprite retains the playfulness, but is more of an asset her with ability to project lifelike images that confuse her opponents. It’s hard to tell from the trailer if the same will be true in the movie, but Sprite’s nonchalant attitude toward humans and penchant for mischief have gotten the character in trouble in the past.
Phastos Is a Brilliant Inventor
Phastos (Bryan Tyree Henry) is the Eternals’ resident tech guy. A highly intelligent inventor, Phastos has been secretly helping humanity progress by introducing new technologies when the world needed them. But Phastos is more of a lover than a fighter, preferring to solve rather than fight his way out of problems. The character will be the first openly gay hero in Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, and will be seen as part of a loving family with a husband and child. Phastos boasts the same practical immortality as the other Eternals, but his tendency to over-manipulate cosmic energy can lead to pain, if not injury.
Druig Can Control Minds
Druig (Barry Keoghan) is the dower and power hungry cousin of Ikaris and member of the Eternals. In many ways, he’s Ikaris’s inverse or maybe even his superior. He is nearly as fast, strong and durable as his cousin, but Druig benefits from far superior psychic abilities. He’s able to control minds, and he doesn’t have the same affinity for average people as do many of his fellow protectors of humanity, which makes him a wild card. In the comics, he’s sometimes portrayed as a bit of a sadist who is unaverse to manipulating and inflicting harm on others (he was part of the KGB). There’s been speculation that he could be one of the film’s villains, if the story revolves around internal conflict.
Black Knight Wields the Ebony Blade
Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) isn’t an Eternal. He probably won’t even be a superhero at the start of the movie. Dane is a human physicist who, it seems, will enter into a love affair with Sersi at some point in Eternals, creating tension between them and Ikaris as potentially world-ending threats loom. Canonically, Dane Whitman becomes an Avenger and the Black Knight when he wields the Ebony Blade, a sword forged by Merlin that’s been passed down through history and bestows power and protection from death upon its current owner. Unfortunately, the Ebony Blade also slowly corrupts its master.
Directed by Chloé Zhao from a screenplay by Matthew and Ryan Firpo, Eternals stars Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Barry Keoghan as Druig and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman/Black Knight. The film arrives in theaters Nov. 5.
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