Eternals was a big part of Marvel Studios' D23 presence this past weekend, and now another piece of concept art has been revealed which puts the spotlight squarely on the movie's massive Celestials!
As you can see, this unidentified ancient being is making its way to Earth, but some fans believe the debris behind its head means something has killed it. It's hard to say for sure, though, and we'll hopefully get a much better quality version of this artwork in the not too distant future.
The Celestials were first introduced in
Guardians of the Galaxy, but given their importance to both the Eternals and seemingly the entire history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we can expect them to receive their fair share of the spotlight in this 2020 release.
Check out the concept art below and let us know in the comments section whether you can identify which of the Celestials this is!
Hit the "View List" button for a recap of everything we
learned about Eternals during this year's Comic-Con!
Eternals Is "Full Jack Kirby"
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige described
Eternals as
"something entirely new, something entirely different for the MCU" and immediately got comic book fans excited when he vowed that the movie is
"full Jack Kirby."
He went on to call the heroes
"a group of immortals who have been on Earth for 35,000 years" and pointed to them having been present in this shared world for a number of key moments in its history.
"They've been there amongst the MCU...we haven't met them before."
Something tells us we could see this tale tie into some previous MCU releases...
Why Chloe Zhao Signed Up To Direct
"I just really, really wanted to make a Marvel movie," the filmmaker admitted.
"When I watch their movies, I see how much this team loves their fans and loves their characters."
Asked to shed some light on what we can expect from
Eternals, Zhao added:
"It's about this group of incredible immortals. Through their journey, we really get to explore what it means to be human and humanity in our time on our planet." So, yeah, it sounds like we'll be exploring more than just their origin story as we follow these characters across thousands of years.
Are The MCU's Eternals Aliens?
Well, if Richard Madden is to be believed, that's definitely going to be the case. In the comics, the Celestials visited Earth and experimented on early man to create what would become known as the Eternals and Deviants.
While it certainly sounds as if this movie will follow that path to some extent, Madden's comments have led us to believe that these Eternals are actually aliens who were sent to Earth by the Celestials...and presumably left behind!
"The Eternals are a race of immortal aliens sent to Earth by the Celestials to protect humankind from the Deviants," the actor revealed.
He also added that his character, Ikaris, is the
"most powerful" of the Eternals.
Who Is The Team's Leader?
Salma Hayek plays Ajak in
Eternals and will serve as the team's leader.
"The way she approaches leadership as a strong woman...she sees them as family," the actress says in regards to her role.
"There's a lot of mother instincts in this Eternal who is not supposed to have kids. I feel honoured to be part of a movie that is going to allow people who never felt represented in superhero movies represented because I am proud to have a diverse family." That mention of her not being supposed to have children is definitely interesting, and could shed some light on her character arc.
Why Angelina Jolie Chose Now To Join The MCU
One of Comic-Con's biggest surprises came when Angelina Jolie was confirmed as being part of this movie's cast; after all, it was hard to imagine her ever joining a shared superhero universe!
"I'm going to work ten times harder," she told fans in Hall H,
"because what it means to be part of the MCU, an Eternal, and part of this family...we've all read the script, we all know what the task ahead is, so we're all going to be working very, very hard. I am in training!"
Needless to say, this is a big win by Marvel Studios and should bring a lot of attention to the film.
The Now Confirmed Cast Members:
Richard Madden (Ikaris)
Richard Madden found fame after playing Robb Stark in
Game of Thrones, but became a hot commodity after starring in his series
The Bodyguard. He also recently appeared in
Rocketman.
Born over 20,000 years ago, Ikaris' powers are rooted in cosmic energy and he has psychic abilities and the ability to create illusions. He's often been portrayed as the team's leader and will probably be
The Eternals' lead male character and someone key to the MCU moving forward.
Angelina Jolie (Thena)
Angelina Jolie is a Hollywood great, and while she may be part of Disney's
Maleficent franchise, it was still hard to ever imagine her joining a superhero franchise. The power of Marvel Studios, eh?
As for Thena, she's Thanos' cousin and one of the Eternals of Olympia. She's a powerful warrior who has your standard enhanced abilities but is also near invulnerable and immortal. She can fly and cast illusions to disguise her appearance, while she carries a bow that fires arrows made up of "cold energy" which bombards enemies either with a ring of fire or anti-gravitons.
Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo)
Kumail Nanjiani is a Pakistani-American actor who is perhaps best known for his stand-up work as well as
The Big Sick and
Silicon Valley. He also recently starred in
Stuber with Dave Bautista.
In the comics, Kingo was from a Japanese settlement of Eternals and a Samurai in 16th Century Japan. In the present day, he used his skills to become a movie star, but it's clear from Nanjiani's casting that the character is going to undergo some relatively major changes in the MCU.
Salma Hayek (Ajak)
Salma Hayek has been acting for a long time now, but it definitely feels like The Eternals marks a comeback of sorts for the actress. In recent years, we've seen her in the likes of
The Hitman's Bodyguard,
Sausage Party, and
Grown Ups 2, so joining the MCU definitely feels like a smart move for Hayek.
A man in the comic books, Ajak fought in the Trojan War in the 13th Century and has many ties to Central America where he was worshipped as a God. He has a number of superpowers and is a gifted fighter, and Hayek's version of the character is actually expected to be the team's leader.
Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos)
Brian Tyree Henry voiced Jefferson Davis in
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and was recently seen in Child's Play.
Atlanta and
This Is Us have put him on the map and he's signed up to appear in upcoming blockbusters like
Godzilla Vs. Kong,
A Quiet Place 2, and even DC Comics movie
Joker.
Phastos is a weapon-smith and was mistaken for the Olympian god Hephaestus during the days of ancient Greece. Phastos is more reticent than the others, having a melancholy spirit and an ambivalence toward fighting, so we can probably expect him to be a character that it'll fun to spend time with.
Lauren Ridloff (Makkari)
Another character who has been gender swapped for the big screen,
The Walking Dead's Lauren Ridloff will play Makkari in the movie and is now set to be the MCU's first deaf superhero.
The Olympian hero is a member of the Eternals Technologist's Guild and skilled at dreaming up various high-speed vehicles. He boasts your standard set of superpowers but will likely be used in a tech support capacity to get this group of weird and wonderful individuals around the cosmos!
Don Lee (Gilgamesh)
Don Lee came to many people's attention after his breakout role in Train to Busan and is actually one of the most popular actors in South Korea. This will be his biggest role to date, though.
Also known as "The Forgotten One, " Gilgamesh became an outcast from his fellow Eternals when his meddling in the human world became too much for them. As a result, he was banished to a sector of Olympus but later returned to their side. He's probably the most skilled hand-to-hand combatant in the entire group and uses an array of weapons, but might he be a villain in this movie?
Lia McHugh (Sprite)
Sprite is portrayed as a young boy in the comics, but Marvel Studios clearly wanted to add some diversity to this team, hence why Lia McHugh is playing her here. The actress has a handful of acting credits to her name but might be best known for
American Woman.
Unable to age, Sprite is considered a trickster and uses his illusions to fool both his fellow Eternals and humans. In fact, he used his abilities to prank people for centuries and his actions actually ended up inspiring Shakespeare's character of the same name.
The Release Date
Eternals is set to be released on November November 6th, 2020, so we don't have long to wait until we see much more from this one. As you can see at the top of this post, a piece of concept art depicting the Celestials has already been released and we're bound to see a trailer by the time
Black Widow arrives in theaters next May. You can watch video highlights and see cast photos below: