Marvel Studios has dropped the trailer for Eternals. The official synopsis: “Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, The Deviants.” In the trailer, Salma Hayek’s Ajak explains “we have watched, we have guided, we have helped them progress, and seen them accomplish wonders; [however], throughout the years, we have never interfered…until now.”
So, they just decided to sit out the whole Thanos (who is technically an Eternal) thing? Was half the universe being turned to dust not an unexpected tragedy worth coming out of hibernation for? To quote Tony Stark, “Well, performance issues, it’s not uncommon. One out of five…” We’ve all been there. For whatever reason, the stars just don’t align on a given night or for thousands of years.
The stars have aligned for Chloé Zhao’s (Nomadland) Eternals, literally. The film features an all-star cast including Hayek, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Gemma Chan as Sersi and Barry Keoghan as Druig…exhale. The trailer teases not only their ability to perform but their story, costumes, a plethora of real-world locations, and because this is a Marvel movie, CGI action. From regal-looking celebrities and romance to Avengers references, and an “assemble” moment, here’s a quick breakdown of our first look at Eternals.
Cover Photo: Marvel Studios
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Eternals
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In the Beginning...
The trailer begins with Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World”— the kind of song one plays after a breakup—as the Eternals’ ship decloaks in front of a group of farmers and fishermen thousands of years ago. In the comics, the immortal “Eternals” are created by the Celestials (like Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) to watch over and guide humanity. That said, we are shown two Eternals looking down at Earth as they arrive; lovers Sersi (Gemma Chan's) and Ikaris (Richard Madden), who are likely the film’s central characters. Sersi says “it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” to the leader of the Eternals, Ikaris, who just stares blankly at her.
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Thena, Ajak, And Phastos Do Stuff
We’re briefly introduced to Thena (Jolie), the Eternals’ diplomat, military leader, and cultural liaison, Ajak (Hayek), the team’s healer spiritual leader, and Phastos (Henry), their inventor, who is shown manipulating cosmic energy...to what end? Unknown. Later in the trailer Jolie’s character reshapes cosmic energy to create a medieval-esque golden blade. In case you were wondering, yes, Jolie’s character is meant to be a stand-out in her MCU debut.
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A Different Type of Green Deal
Piggybacking off her “it’s beautiful” comment, Sersi’s affinity for humanity appears to be in line with the comics; aiding them more than her co-workers. A shot shows her using her power of matter transmutation to produce water, irrigating a desert. She is then shown hanging out with a human family and getting her hair down by a little girl. It’s worth noting that, in the world of Marvel, the Eternals are often worshiped as Gods and share a lot of parallels with Greek mythology because of their time spent among humanity.
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Babylon
Babylon is an important location in Eternals lore and the immortals are shown in front of the capital city in the trailer. They are either revealing themselves to the people or defending the city; regardless, we see another shot from the past that shows the fall of Babylon. So, whatever their ties and/or relationship to the Babylonian empire, they ultimately decided to stand by and watch one of many tragedies occur.
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Makkari Making the Most of Quarantine
We meet the MCU’s first deaf superhero, Makkari (Ridloff), who also happens to be the fastest woman in the universe. R.I.P. Quicksilver...who’s slow compared to her. In the trailer, she’s shown hanging out in the Eternals’ ship, reading books faster than Stephen King writes. As you can see, she’s surrounded by collector items from throughout history including Pop Tarts and the Holy Grail.
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Time Is a Flat Circle
While the Eternals trailer treats us to a little montage spanning thousands of years, the majority of the actual film will take place in the present day—which is signified by the above moment showing Sersi in ancient Babylon and then the present. That said, perhaps the Eternals integrated so well into society that they forgot who they were, something that would explain their absence during the Infinity Saga. Knowing Marvel’s proclivity for retconning plot holes, this is most likely the case.
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Sprite (Not the Soda No One Drinks Anymore)
Sprite (McHugh) is an Eternal whose trapped in a child’s body, and not happy about it. It’s worth mentioning that many of the Eternals have been gender-swapped in the film (from their comic book counterparts) but the Eternals have also recently been revealed as gender-fluid so this is a bit of a moot point. Anyway, Sprite looks like a young girl in Eternals but certainly doesn’t have the disposition, as she’s often more malicious than her cohorts. A later shot in the trailer shows her singing karaoke on a plane surrounded by dead bodies...
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Meet Druig
Druig (Keoghan) likes to be a maverick, branching out from his fellow Eternals and ominously walking through doors. Druig has the power to control the minds of others and appears to be using that power to gain influence...in a culty sort of way.
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Romance
Eternals has been described as more of a romance than anything else and its central love triangle begins with Ikaris and Sersi—a love spanning centuries. Presumably, Sersi will convince Ikaris, and his cynical view of humanity, to reunite the Eternals. However, a follow-up shot of Sersi and the Black Knight (Harington) suggests she's just not that into Ikaris.
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Bollywood
Since being cast, Kumail Nanjiani has gone viral for his body transformation. The dude got shredded for Eternals. His character, Kingo, is a present-day Bollywood star (as seen above).
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The Fall of Atlantis (Maybe)
A volcano erupts. What does this mean? Well, back in the day (in the comics), the Eternals’ war against the Deviants came to a head on the continent of Lemuria—which was ruled over by the Atlanteans. The King of Atlantis aided our heroes by weaponizing his city’s magma, causing an earthquake, and sinking Lemuria. This is ultimately why the Atlanteans became an aquatic race. Who knows if Eternals will reference any of this, especially since Warner Bros/DC is doing Atlantean stuff with Aquaman, but their has been plenty of underwater rumblings talk in the MCU thus far and the latest entry will certainly offer up a history lesson about Eternals v Deviants.
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Romance No. 2
Harington is playing Dane Whitman Aka the Black Knight in Eternals. Whitman is a scientist who inherits the Ebony Blade, a weapon originating from the time of King Arthur. To be clear: he is not an Eternal; however, he will steal Sersi from Ikarus—setting up a Black Knight solo film? Also, the two witness a storm, something that usually accompany the arrival of the Celestials in the comics.
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Eternals Assemble...Finally
Throughout what’s sure to be a very tumultuous runtime, the Eternals will, of course, “assemble.” When the group unites, they’re able to join their minds into a single consciousness known as the "Uni-Mind (which is also briefly shown in the trailer)." Regardless, one of the final shots shows all of them wearing their OG costumes courtesy of Jack Kirby.
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Jokes
The very last moment in the trailer shows the Eternals at a family dinner, discussing who will lead the Avengers now that “Captain Rogers” and Iron Man are gone. After Sprite asks Irakus this question, he replies, “I could lead them.” Fat chance.
Eternals is in theaters on Nov. 5, 2021.
