After those awesome magazine covers were revealed earlier today, we're now fully expecting the second trailer for Eternals to be shared sometime within the next 48 hours.
A new look at the movie will hopefully shed a little more light on what we can expect from this ambitious Marvel Studios adventure, but in the meantime, we have some fresh details to share with you. Starting with when exactly these heroes first arrived on Earth, we also delve into a romantic subplot featuring a big love triangle, what led to Gemma Chan's MCU return, and which of these characters is the strongest.
Most interesting, however, may be a long-overdue explanation about why we haven't met the Eternals before now and what led to them not getting involved in Avengers: Endgame!
To check out these details, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button down below.
5. When The Eternals Arrived On Earth
We've heard a lot about Eternals being a movie that spans the entire history of the MCU, but it's now been confirmed that the heroes first arrive on Earth in 5,000 B.C. That means they've been here for 7,000 years, and in order to best get that across on screen, director Chloe Zhao pushed for Marvel Studios to leave the blue screens behind and shoot on location instead.
"It was probably the windiest cliff that I have ever been on," the filmmaker says of the shot below. "You'd have to have a helicopter to achieve the wind that we had that day."
"We had our whole cast standing on that cliff in their costumes, and we played really loud operatic music on the speaker, just blasting that through the wind," Zhao continues. "Seeing my cast coming together in formation as the Eternals, with the beauty of this ancient-looking landscape, and the ocean and the sky, that was [awesome]."
4. A Love Triangle
It feels like it's been a while since we've had a good romantic subplot in a Marvel Studios movie, but that's going to be a major aspect of Eternals. Apparently, a big part of the movie will focus on Ikaris and Sersi's relationship; they've had a long romantic history, but have drifted apart in recent years (in fairness, 7,000 years is a long time to spend with your significant other).
Now, working as a museum curator, Sersi is dating the human Dane Whitman (Kit Harington).
"You've got to have this huge compassion for the human beings you're with, but then also, you've got this huge disconnect from them because you've lived through all of this time," Madden says of Ikaris and Sersi's dynamic. "That's what is so good about Sersi and Ikaris together, that they are two opposing sides of how they connect with the world. That's what balances them."
"She's interesting because she is this immortal being, but she's very grounded as well," adds Gemma Chan. "She's a little bit of a free spirit and just loves being amongst humans."
3. Gemma Chan's MCU Return
As we're sure you'll remember, Chan played the villainous Minn-Erva in 2019's Captain Marvel. However, it doesn't sound like there will be a storyline reason for the similarity between the two characters as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige explains.
"It would have been shooting ourselves in the foot," he says of not bringing the actress back after her previous, minor, MCU role. "I can go back to Chris Evans being on the list for Captain America, and some people said, 'Oh, well, he played the Human Torch [in 2005's Fantastic Four]. Maybe we shouldn't consider him.' And we said, 'No, that's okay,' and the rest is history."
As for Chan, she's just glad to be out of the makeup chair. "I have to say that was somewhat of a relief," she laughs. "It was nice not finding blue paint in my crevices weeks later."
2. The Most Powerful Eternal
Just in general terms, these Eternals characters are all incredibly powerful. According to Chan, "[Sersi is] not the most obviously impressive Eternal in terms of her powers. She's not the strongest, and she's not the best fighter, but her power really is her empathy." As for Ikaris, he's described as "one of" the most powerful as he has the "ability to fly and shoot beams of light from his eyes"
However, it's Gilgamesh who Don Lee says is "extremely powerful and the strongest warrior of Eternals." Apparently, he often takes his enemies out with a single punch. "That fit me perfectly because I'm a longtime boxer myself, for over 30 years since I was a kid," the actor teases. "Gilgamesh's action is based on boxing, so I could add real boxing movements."
However, the leader of this team might be most formidable because Salma Hayek says that Ajak, who has the ability to heal, is "full of contradictions." Why? "She's the bridge between the Eternals and the Celestials, and it's never easy to hold two sides together."
1. Where Have The Eternals Been, Anyway?
According to Entertainment Weekly, Eternals is a standalone story for the most part, but producer Nate Moore says the movie is still "part of the fabric of the MCU." He compares it to 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, an adventure that was almost mostly self-contained but laid the groundwork for future stories.
It's also confirmed that Eternals picks up following the events of Avengers: Endgame, when half of Earth's population has returned after being snapped out of existence. As for why these heroes didn't interfere in that battle with Thanos and other historic events, the site explains that it's basically because their mission is to focus on battling the Deviants and to not interfere with human affairs.
While no direct quotes are shared, Kevin Feige and Moore both teased that Eternals will have "major ripple effects on future stories." What those will be obviously remain to be seen for now.