If you don’t know who Marvel’s Eternals are, that’s because they want it that way. This secretive group of immortals has been on Earth for thousands of years without giving away their true nature. However, the events of Avengers: Endgame have forced the Eternals to come out of hiding. Now, Marvel has released the final trailer for Eternals, and it sets the stage for the cosmic consequences of undoing Thanos’ “snap.”
As explained by Ajak (Salma Hayek), the sheer magnitude of that act has captured the attention of the Celestials, the space gods that were first glimpsed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vols. 1 & 2. The Eternals were created by the Celestials and tasked with safeguarding the Earth from their foes, the Deviants. However, it was understood that the Celestials would one day decide whether humanity deserved to live or die. Ajak and her people didn’t expect that judgment to arrive for thousands of years. Now, they only have seven days to prevent the “emergence” from ending their world.
The lone human character in this cast of characters is Dane Whitman, portrayed by Kit Harrington, who played Game of Thrones‘ Jon Snow. Comic fans should know Dane by his superhero persona, Black Knight. Within the trailer, Sersi (Gemma Chan) tells Dane why the Eternals didn’t interfere when Thanos came to Earth. What she doesn’t tell him is that Thanos was an Eternal from Titan (at least in the comics).
Another GoT veteran, Richard Madden (aka Rob Stark), is Ikaris, one of the most accomplished warriors among the Eternals. It’s also somewhat fitting that Madden and Harrington are reuniting on screen as rivals, albeit not for the affections of their father, but for the heart of a woman, Sersi. In the past, Sersi and Ikaris have shared a love that spanned ages. And yet in the present, she seems more invested in her relationship with Dane.
The trailer also reintroduces the rest of the Eternals, including Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), and Druig (Barry Keoghan). Even box office megastar Angelina Jolie is part of the cast as Thena. The latest footage gives us a better idea of how the Eternals react to each other in their quieter moments, including a very funny joke at Ikea’s expense.
Finally, we get a better look at the Eternals’ rivals, the Deviants. These creatures are not like anything we’ve seen before in the MCU. But it might be unfair and unkind to simply dismiss them all as monsters. Regardless, they are a threat to both the Eternals and the people they love and protect.
Nomadland director Chloé Zhao helmed Eternals, which will finally arrive in the theaters on November 5.
