For a few months now, we’ve known that Marvel Studios was planning to introduce the Eternals into their wildly popular cinematic universe (which is going stronger than ever, despite over a decade of bombarding audiences with superhero movies and even providing them with an ending earlier this year and then just carrying on). However, their Comic-Con panel this summer confirmed the movie, as well as its cast, general premise, and release date: November 6, 2020.

RELATED: 10 Things The Eternals Could Reveal About The MCU

Since the movie and its lead characters have basically no ties to the broader Marvel universe, fans have been wondering how the forthcoming Eternals film will connect to the other installments in the MCU. So, here are 10 Ways The Eternals Movie Might Connect To The Wider MCU.

They might have been created by Ego

Kurt Russell as Ego in Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

Before breaking off to simply become a powerful race of cosmic beings, the Eternals were created by the Celestials to be eaten (apparently, to Celestials, they taste delicious). The Celestials have already been introduced into the MCU in form of one key villain: Ego, Peter Quill’s father, played by Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The MCU has proven that it’s not averse to bringing back dead villains in movies set earlier in the timeline with Ronan’s appearance in Captain Marvel, so perhaps Ego will return in the Eternals movie to create the titular race. The movie could even improve on his characterization and make up for some of the Guardians sequel’s minor missteps.

Thanos might be an Eternal

Thanos in the MCU

Fans were somewhat disappointed when Thanos was killed once and for all (well, turned to dust using the Infinity Stones) in Avengers: Endgame, because there were still a ton of stories involving the character that had yet to be adapted. In the comics, Thanos was originally conceived as an Eternal – and the brother of Eros – before being retconned as a Titanian.

Since the MCU has tweaked characters in the past to suit their ongoing storylines and fans are dying to see more of the Mad Titan, the most human villain in the franchise to date, perhaps he will be making an appearance in the upcoming Eternals film.

The Collector and the Grandmaster might be Eternals

A blended image features Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster and Benicio del Toro as Collector in Marvel Cinematic Universe

In the MCU, the Collector and the Grandmaster have been introduced as entirely separate characters – one in Guardians of the Galaxy and the other in Thor: Ragnarok (with the latter instantly becoming a fan favorite because Jeff Goldblum) – but in the comics, they’re actually brothers. Maybe it’ll be revealed that they’re both Eternals and their relationship will be fleshed out.

RELATED: 10 MCU Characters Who Could Appear In The Eternals

The MCU has altered characters’ species and backstories to make its own stories flow a little more neatly in the past. The Eternals movie offers Marvel the perfect opportunity to expand on the familial relationship they share, as well as a unique way to tie together two secondary characters we thought we’d seen the last of.

The Eternals might know where Gamora is

Zoe Saldana as Gamora in the MCU

With Gamora missing (even the Russo brothers don’t know what happened to her), the search for her was assumed to make up a large part of the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But with the James Gunn drama holding up that threequel and the Eternals movie singlehandedly handling the cosmic side of the MCU’s Phase 4, maybe they know where Gamora is.

It makes sense that they would be the ones to see through the voodoo of the Infinity Stones to keep an eye on who has been dusted, undusted, and re-dusted (after all, the MCU has been known to slightly alter the abilities of its characters for the purposes of story).

They might have tangled with Odin

Odin stands in the Asgardian palace

The Eternals are essentially gods, but then, we’ve dealt with gods in the MCU before. All of the Asgardian royals have been basically gods (even if Captain America denies that a god would dress like that), and they’re depicted as having been around for centuries.

Since the Eternals movie promises to span several (fictional) historical eras, perhaps the enormous scope of the movie will include a trip to Asgard and a run-in with Anthony Hopkins as a young Odin – the Marvel producers love to digitally de-age actors after all, and fans would suspend their disbelief for any opportunity to see Odin in the MCU again.

They might create mutants

X-Men New Reboot Team Cover Summers

MCU fans have been wondering how the X-Men will be brought into the franchise ever since Kevin Feige promised they would be. Explaining where Captain Marvel has been all these years is one thing, but explaining the whereabouts of Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Professor X, Jean Grey, Magneto – well, you get the picture – is quite another.

The Eternals movie might explain at least where the MCU’s mutants came from. They might be a by-product of the experimentation with life on Earth that leads to the creation of the Eternals in the first place. This would be in keeping with the allegorical use of the mutants as a misunderstood minority group who are treated as second-class citizens.

They might travel around the multiverse

The Eternals of the MCU might be interdimensional beings that dart around the multiverse. A lot of Marvel fans expected the multiverse to be explored in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but it all turned out to be an elaborate lie by Quentin Beck to become the world’s next big superhero. Obviously, the multiverse still exists in the MCU, because of all the timelines created in Avengers: Endgame and the fact that it was already mentioned in Doctor Strange.

RELATED: Marvel’s The Eternals Shares Its Working Title With A Fake Seinfeld Movie

The Doctor Strange sequel will reportedly explore the multiverse, so maybe the Eternals movie will also depict it in some way. “Interdimensional” can be another type of MCU movie, just like “cosmic.”

Thanos’ finger-snap might be integral to their story

Thanos snaps his fingers in front of Thor in Avengers Infinity War

It’s clear that Thanos’ destructive finger-snap that wiped out half of all life in the universe and the Hulk’s subsequent finger-snap that brought them all back have become significant historical events in the wider MCU. The events of the MCU going forward will be remembered as pre- and post-Snap. Since the Eternals are sworn protectors of Earth, one might wonder where they’ve been all these years.

The narrative corner they’ve been painted into might actually serve the plot – if they “awaken” in modern times, having missed the ultimate opportunity to protect Earth, then they might feel some kind of remorse. Or, maybe there was an even greater threat they were fighting during Thanos’ reign and they incidentally allowed him to succeed to avoid an even worse villain.

The Decimation might have created the Deviants

Marvel Deviants

In the comics, the Deviants are the sworn enemies of the Eternals. Any movie about the Eternals would inevitably have to include them – just like the first Captain America solo movie needed Red Skull, or Sam Raimi’s initial Spider-Man movie needed the Green Goblin.

Some fans have theorized that Thanos’ finger-snap will be the universe-ripping cosmic event that leads to the Deviants rising up, which would explain why the Eternals have been taking a backseat this whole time before their MCU introduction. They were letting the Avengers protect Earth (the same explanation used for Captain Marvel’s absence) while they waited for their ultimate enemies – enemies that only they could face – to show up.

It might show how the X-Men and the Fantastic Four get their powers

X-Men Fantastic Four Marvel Comics

For months now, since the merger between Disney and Fox, MCU fans have expected the multiverse to be what introduces the X-Men and the Fantastic Four into the franchise. However, now that Mahershala Ali has been cast to play Blade, it seems more likely that the multiverse will be used to introduce him, and mutants will be incorporated in a different way.

Maybe the Eternals movie will show how humans gained the ability to have superpowers in the first place, and since most of the Avengers’ powers are man-made (super soldier serum, gamma radiation, special suits etc.), this could be how the characters who actually have genuine superpowers – i.e. the X-Men and the Fantastic Four – will acquire their powers in the MCU.

NEXT: 10 Things You Need To Know About The Eternals

Key Release Dates