“Why didn’t you guys help fight Thanos? Or any war or any of the other terrible things throughout history?”
“We were instructed not to interfere in any human conflicts unless Deviants were involved.”
So begins a featurette for The Eternals released on Monday. Coming exclusively to theaters on Friday, Nov. 5, the Marvel Studios movie follows a group of heroes more ancient than the Avengers, hailing from beyond the stars. They protected the Earth since the dawn of man until they split and went to live separate lives amidst the people they were standing up for.
“One storyline is set in the past when they operated as a formidable team and a close family unit. The second storyline is in the present, when the group has fractured and split apart, content to live among humans, hiding in plain sight,” a Disney press release reads.
The Eternals and the Deviants were just two of several species (along with humans) created by the Celestials in the gods’ cosmic garden. The Celestials destroyed Deviant society, however, in a second return to Earth, before humans arrived. Their ancient land of Lemuria sunk to the sea. Though long lost to time, it turns out a few Deviants survived the Deviant apocalypse.
When the Deviants begin appearing in a post-Thanos “emergence,” the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity and save planetary destruction once again. Director Chloé Zhao emphasizes that family is key to The Eternals — characters learn what it means to be human from the many journeys their siblings have had.
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In a starry cast, Selma Hayek plays the Eternals’ wise and spiritual leader Ajak.
“Ajak is in charge to supervise them, bring them over,” Hayek said. “She’s the leader of this group of people that have a mission, and it is my responsibility to make sure that it’s accomplished and that they behave.”
Angelina Jolie, who plays Thena, discussed how The Eternals will incorporate a sense of empowerment. This is a new group of heroes who will dramatically alter Marvel’s superhero world. A god-like mythic race emerging from inside the Earth will do that.
“The impact that Eternals will have on the MCU will be nothing less than redefining the cinematic universe,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said.
How and how much it will change the MCU is still unclear. Making things more cryptic, showrunners included Avengers: Endgame footage, specifically Ant-Man and Ironman with a smoky dust emanating from the characters. The Eternals will evidently connect concretely to its last film.
Following an almost infinite wait, The Eternals has arrived. An early premiere will show on October 24 at the Rome Film Festival and open Nov. 5 in theaters. Pre-sale tickets are on sale now.
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