How The Eternals Have Changed MCU History

The Eternals trailer suggested its titular heroes have transformed human history, involved with everything from Babylon to Camelot. The Eternals movie was pushed back due to the pandemic, but Marvel has finally given viewers their first full trailer. It's an intriguing one, revealing a race of ancient aliens who were sent to Earth millennia ago.

According to the trailer, the Eternals have served as shepherds and guides to human civilization. The trailer lingered particularly over their role in ancient Mesopotamia, with one of its most stunning shots showing them standing at the famed Ishtar Gate of Babylon. It wasn't quite historically accurate; Marvel had subtly adapted the designs to suggest the Eternals themselves had been involved in establishing the city, which is appropriate because Babylon is actually important to Eternals lore in the comics too. But the trailer also suggested the Eternals have played a role in many other civilizations. Geekritique has performed a fascinating analysis of the trailer pointing to just how many cultures the Eternals seem to have interacted with.

As they note, the Eternals trailer shows the heroes arrive on Earth in what seems to be ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes called the Cradle of Civilization. This is the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates, and roughly 10,000 years ago people there began cultivating crops in what is known as the Neolithic Revolution; the trailer hints Sersi may have been responsible for the Neolithic Revolution, using her powers to help irrigate crops. The cultivation of plants and domesticating of animals led to the establishment of the first towns and even cities, with Babylon founded around 2,300BC. The Eternals trailer reveals several of the ancient aliens were involved in Babylonian society, and even suggests that - in spite of their claim never to interfere - the Eternal perhaps stood in Babylon's defense at first. Interestingly, set photos have shown a building near the Gates of Babylon that is believed to be the City of the Space Gods, a key location from the first issue of Kirby's original Eternals comic book series.

The Eternals appear to have scattered across the world, and the trailer shows them living individualistic lives but occasionally crossing paths with one another. There's a shot of Makkari speed-reading in a vault where the Eternals keep various mementos from their past, and it gives a sense of just how many cultures and societies they influenced. There's an Egyptian Ankh (a hieroglyphic symbol that traditionally means "life") and a sarcophagus, a Roman flagstaff with the typical SPQR, and even what appears to be the Holy Grail. All this suggests the Eternals were involved in some of the greatest civilizations in history; the ancient Egyptians, the Roman Empire, and of course the legend of Camelot, which is associated with the Grail. Interestingly, the comics themselves have recently hinted Camelot was a city of Celestial wonder; in the comics, the Celestials are the ones who created the Eternals, and in the MCU they may well be the ones who sent them to Earth. The Camelot connection may explain why Eternals also features the Black Knight, a sword-and-sorcery hero linked to Arthurian mythology.

There are, however, other shots of apparent tragedy and destruction. The volcanic eruption may be related to the destruction of Atlantis, given the Eternals are tied to the history of Atlantis in the comics, but Geekritique suggests it may be the AD79 eruption of Vesuvius. Another shot seems to show Cortez raiding the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521. The implication is that the Eternals have shaped society and civilization, but have not stood in its defense. That raises a disturbing question, of course; what has changed, forcing the Eternals to step out of the shadows and into the light?

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