MCU's Eternals Footage Suggests A Major Comic Book Story Change

A line in the first footage for Marvel’s Eternals movie suggests a huge change is coming for the backstory of the characters from the comic books. In the footage in Marvel's Phase 4 preview, Gemma Chan’s Sersi said to Kingo Sunen (Kumail Nanjiani), “We’re the ones who changed everything.” That could imply a significant alteration to the team's story.

Due to all the delays related to the coronavirus pandemic, fans have had to wait a long time for a look at what is perhaps the most mysterious film on Marvel’s Phase 4 slate, Eternals. Directed by Chloe Zhao, Eternals is a project that focuses on a group of super-powered immortals created by legendary comic book artist and writer, Jack Kirby. In comparison to the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the X-Men, these lesser-known heroes have had a small presence in the comics, which gives Marvel plenty of leeway when it comes to adapting them to the MCU. It’s expected that Marvel will adhere to the core concepts of Kirby’s original 1976 series, but not much else is known about what Marvel plans to do with them on the big screen.

Sersi’s “we’re the ones who changed everything” comment hints that the MCU’s take on their story will be leaning in a different direction to what the comics did with them. What it suggests is that the Eternals had some sort of enormous impact on the world. It’s not exactly clear what she means, but the implication is that the actions of the Eternals may have changed the course of history for the MCU’s Earth. It’s known that the movie will span several thousands of years, so it’s quite possible that she’s referring to events that took place in ancient times. Part of what’s so intriguing about that is how it contrasts with Kirby’s Eternals in Marvel Comics.

In the comics, it was explained that the Eternals had very little involvement in the planet’s history. Their leader, Zuras, made a rule that their people were not allowed to interfere in the affairs of humans. So for thousands of years, they’ve been keeping to themselves. Exceptions were kept to a minimum, with the Eternals only helping them on rare occasions, such as the time Ikaris guided Noah’s Ark through a storm. The rule was so important that one Eternal in particular, Gilgamesh, was ostracized and labeled the “Forgotten One” for breaking it. Their race following this pattern of non-interference makes sense when looking at all of the wars and tragedies that have occurred in human history. Many likely wouldn’t have happened if the Eternals – Marvel’s most powerful superhero team – took action.

However, it looks like the Eternals did step in at some point in the MCU, and did so in a big way. For Sersi to say that they “changed everything,” whatever they did must have been much more than just a simple exception to the rule. It appears that in the MCU’s version of the story, the Eternals are actually responsible for the current state of the world. It may be discovered that if it wasn’t for them, all of human civilization would have been conquered by the Deviants or erased by the Celestials.

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