There is a lot to unpack from today’s Marvel panel in Hall H, so we are going to break it down into several posts, starting with the formalized introduction of Marvel’s next big ensemble cast film, Eternals. The film is pretty high-concept for a comic book movie, so you’ve got to give them credit for taking such a big risk here. That said, loading the film up with such an impressive cast is not going to hurt:
- Angelina Jolie as Thena
- 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.
While the characters are essentially gods, the movie is going to be all about what it’s like to be human. We’ll know if director Chloe Zhao has pulled it off when Marvel’s Eternals hits theaters on November 6, 2020.
If you’re just catching up on the Eternals and need a little primer. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them:
When the Celestials visited Earth five million years ago and performed genetic experiments on early proto-humanity, they created two divergent races: the long-lived Eternals, and the genetically unstable and monstrously grotesque Deviants. These experiments also led to the capacity for super-powered mutations in humans. They also performed this experiment on other planets (such as the Kree and Skrull homeworlds) with similar results.
Despite looking human, Eternals are much more long-lived (but were not originally fully immortal) and that kept them from having much contact with their human cousins. Eternals have a low birth rate; they can interbreed with humans but the result is always a normal human (although Joey Athena, son of Thena and a normal human seems to have become an Eternal with long lived properties and powers). Despite this, the Eternals have in general protected the human race, especially from the Deviants, with whom they’ve always had an enmity. The Eternals also developed advanced technology.