Warning! Spoilers for Eternals: Celestia #1 by Marvel Comics below
Marvel Comics just revealed the Eternals allowed the first team of Avengers to continue operating on Earth and chose not to annihilate them after studying the heroes and determining they're not a threat. In Eternals: Celestia #1, the comic takes readers back a million years, where Ajak first encountered the Avengers of 1,000,000 BCE. The Eternals hero intentionally holds back in a fight against them to get data on whether they represented a danger to their existence. Ultimately, it was decided the Avengers were more an ally than an enemy.
The Eternals were created by the Celestials more than one million years ago to serve the cosmic Gods. However, before they were made, Earth's Mightiest Heroes killed a Celestial who had become infected and attacked them after initially arriving on the planet to find a missing member of his race. In response to having little data about Earth, its inhabitants, and its threats, the Celestials created the Eternals. The Eternals provided valuable information about the planet, serving the Celestials for a million years. However, the Eternals were shocked when the Celestials abandoned the planet with little warning - leaving the group to find purpose in their absence.
In Eternals: Celestia #1 by Kieron Gillen, Kei Zama, John Livesay, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles, Ajak's role among the Celestials and Eternals is revealed, as the comic flashes back a million years ago, where she was a translator for the cosmic gods. The Celestials ask Ajak to gather information on the Avengers of 1,000,000 BCE to determine if they are threats. After being teleported to the group, Ajak is attacked after mentioning she was created by Celestials. The Eternal gets hit hard by Odin and the Starbrand Hulk, but despite her molecules rearranging with each blow, she uses her powers to gain intel on the group.
She gathers valuable data before being killed and sent back to exclusion. After waking up, she informs the Celestials the Avengers are "deeply inefficient" and gather together for the "loosest of causes." However, despite those remarks, she tells the Celestials and her fellow Eternals they are not a threat to the Great Machine and can be viewed as a "supplementary system for the protection of the Machine." She tells the Eternals to stand down and that "we need not annihilate these 'Avengers.'"
Eternals: Celestia #1 is a great one-shot that explores the Eternals history a million years ago on Earth and showcases how they determined the Avengers weren't a danger to the Great Machine and to the Celestials. The Eternals could have killed the original Avengers and prevented future teams from forming but saw them as an asset in the protection of their existence. It will be fascinating to see if a similar determination is made in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.