Eternals was supposed to be released last November, but thanks to the pandemic, it's continuously slipped down the release calendar. Now, it's heading our way this November, and comic book fans remain anxious for a first look at the movie. We've seen LEGO sets, promo art, and plenty of action figures, but Marvel Studios hasn't shared so much as a single still or piece of concept art.
While you might think that the movie is sitting on a shelf in Kevin Feige's office gathering dust, it's now been confirmed that work is still underway on the highly anticipated cosmic adventure.
In an interview with Sundance Collab, Eternals editor Dylan Tichenor (whose credits include Zero Dark Thirty and Phantom Thread) weighed in on collaborating with director Chloe Zhao, confirming that the filmmaker remains hard at work putting the finishing touches on her first foray into the MCU.
"I am [working] right now [with] Chloe [Zhao]. Chloe edits her movies and she has strong opinions," the prolific editor explained. "But she also wants to know everything I'm thinking, and frankly, we did the whole first cut without much input from her in terms of takes or this or that. And she just watched it. And the things that she wants to tweak, we tweak. But by and large, she has really relied on our experience and our point of view. That's why we're hired, you know, for our creativity and our experience. And sense of humor. But I think that makes the best result."
Eternals being edited this close to its release date isn't cause for concern, especially as this is work that would have likely been completed last year had COVID-19 not halted productions and closed studios.
It sounds like Zhao has a great relationship with the rest of the team working on this chapter in the MCU mythos, and after the response to Nomadland, these characters are clearly in good hands.
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out a rumoured breakdown of Eternals' plot!
5. How The Story Begins
Deviants were created by the Celestials to hunt predators that prey on intelligent life, but when they started hunting everything, the Eternals were made to keep them in check.
5000 years in the past, a man is attacked by a Deviant who rises from the ocean; the Eternals show up and save the day as the Marvel Studios fanfare kicks in shortly after they strike a classic hero pose.
In the present day, Sersi is a teacher who works with Dane Whitman. On a date (with Sprite in tow), they're attacked by a Deviant before Ikaris shows up to help. The Deviants haven't been seen for thousands of years, and this one could heal itself, so something strange is going on.
Seeking out Ajak, they find her dead, and the device which allowed her to communicate with the Celestials is passed to Sersi.
4. Bringing The Team Together
The heroes decide that the Eternals must once again assemble to take on this threat.
Thena and Gilgamesh are in Australia, though the former is having some issues with her memory. Phastos, meanwhile, has a happy life with his husband and child, and has fully embraced his humanity before being dragged into this mess.
Kingo is a huge Bollywood star who gets his own song and dance number as means of an introduction, and Makkari has been hiding out on the Eternals' ship for a very, very long time.
Druig lives in a rainforest where he controls a small village of people, hoping to prove that his powers could be used to stop humanity from fighting with each other. The Deviants attack again at this point, and Gilgamesh is killed.
3. The Truth About Celestials
Sersi learns that the Celestials were responsible for their creation and the Deviants. At this point, the description claims that the Eternals "are basically just very advanced robots."
The Celestials seed young planets with an "egg" that takes eons to mature. As intelligent life evolves, the planet feeds the egg, and it grows into a Celestial. The Eternals are sent to ensure that life can evolve, and to kill the Deviants, so that new Celestials can be created.
When that happens, and a planet is destroyed by the birthing process, the Eternals are "rebooted" and the process starts all over again. This has been going on for millions of years it seems. That's why Thena has been having memory issues.
The Celestial about to emerge from Earth is Tiamut, and his birth will destroy the Earth.
2. The True Villain Revealed
The team debates what they should do, but Ikaris, Sprite, and Kingo all feel they should let the cycle continue. Despite that, Kingo agrees to help Sersi.
Phastos creates a device - the Uni-Mind - which will allow Druig to channel all their energies to put Tiamut back to sleep. Sersi learns that Ikaris has known this was going to happen all along, and that he killed Ajak because she decided to save Earth.
Ikaris and Sprite attempt to stop the other Eternals, but Sersi is able to amplify her own powers to turn the Celestial to marble just as his head and hand emerge from the Indian Ocean.
Ikaris flies into space (the leaker isn't sure whether he just escaped or killed himself by flying into the sun), while Sersi uses what remains of her powers to make Sprite a real human so she can finally grow older.
1. A Cliffhanger Ending
Days later, Thena, Makkari, and Druig leave in the ship to try and find other Eternals so they can stop this endless cycle of destruction.
Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos all decide to stay on Earth, but are pulled into space by Arishem and vanish.
There are two post-credits scenes. The first reportedly sees Dane pull a sword out on an old box that is wrapped up. As he's about to touch it, a voice off screen stops him. The second, meanwhile, picks up on the Eternals' ship and features Pip the Troll introducing Starfox.
This is a pretty intriguing breakdown, but there's lot of information missing. Plenty has surely changed since this screening took place, we're sure, but this offers a great idea of the general direction Eternals takes the MCU in.