Hot off a couple history-making Oscar wins, writer and director Chloé Zhao is blasting off into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Eternals. Just what you and pretty much all of Hollywood are probably asking, will the director of the intimate, grounded Nomadland do in the superhero genre? Today, we got some indication, with the release of the film’s first official teaser, and it looks like Eternals is going to be a sweeping, world- and time-spanning epic with a pair of god-like lovers at its center.
Due to hit theaters in November, Eternals marks a new era for Marvel, as it continues to shift away from its hyper-militarized super soldiers and further into the cosmic and mystical realms introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Doctor Strange (2016). But while Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man were all more or less household names before they were blockbuster franchises, do the names Sersi, Ikaris, or Kingo mean anything to you? Who exactly are these “Eternals” anyway? And are they…ancient aliens?
The short answer is yes…I think. Gemma Chan and Richard Madden lead an impressive cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kumail Nanjiani as immortal extraterrestrials who have secretly influenced humanity for centuries. According to a post on Marvel.com, the heroes will be forced to get the band back together after thousands of years to battle baddies, The Deviants. (Not loving the McCarthy-era moralistic undertones of that team name, but whatever.)
Zhao reportedly approached Marvel execs specifically about these characters, citing her love of manga and sci-fi. “It is my favorite thing,” she said during a conversation with Moonlight director Barry Jenkins late last year. “That’s why I love Star Wars. There is a world that is so rich. I wanted to enter it and see what I can do.”
Eternals also features an impressively diverse cast of characters, including Marvel’s first deaf hero Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) and Phatos (Henry), the MCU’s first openly gay hero.
Makkari? Phatos? Yeah, there’s probably only one name that really matters here: Marvel.
