Eternals Covers 7000 Years Of Human History, Told In Two Timelines

Producer Nate Moore reveals Eternals will cover 7,000 years of human history and be set in two timelines during Screen Rant's visit to the set of the new Marvel Cinematic Universe installment. The new film in Phase Four of the MCU introduces the titular alien race created by the Celestials as they arrive on Earth tasked with protecting humanity from their evil counterparts known as the Deviants. The Eternals must reunite following the events of Avengers: Endgame as the Deviants suddenly begin to reemerge around the world and pose a new threat to humanity.

Eternals is led by an ensemble cast including Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Lia McHugh, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harrington and Salma Hayek. The new MCU film is being co-written and directed by Nomadland Oscar winner Chloé Zhao with Patrick Burleigh and Ryan & Kaz Firpo. With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proving a box office success for the studio, Marvel is bringing Eternals exclusively to theaters in November.

Screen Rant got the opportunity to visit the set of Eternals on its final day of filming in January 2020 and speak with produce Nate Moore about the film's multiple-era story. Moore revealed the film will cover 7,000 years of human history and will be set in two separate timelines akin to The Godfather Part II to explore the titular group's origins of being created by the Celestials and coming to Earth from the alien planet of Olympia. The past timeline of the film will see the Eternals slowly eradicating the evil Deviant race over the years, though also finding their relationships impacted and slowly separate.

A Deviant coming out of the sea and ready to attack in Marvel's Eternals.

In Eternals, the Deviants are being portrayed as a race of "parasitic aliens that go from planet to planet, and as they kill the apex predators of the planet, they take the characteristics of those predators and wipe out intelligent life." After having seemingly defeated them and parting ways with one another, the present day timeline will see Sersi and Sprite still living with one another in London and being surprised by the arrival of a Deviant, the first in 5,000 years, that has evolved from its original form. This will spark the two's desire to reunite the titular group to fight back against the Deviants.

The decision to tell the story of Eternals in a dual-timeline nature is an intriguing evolution in the storytelling formula of the MCU. Though plenty of films in the MCU have utilized flashbacks for their stories, very rarely has a film has actually elected to directly split the plot down the middle for its past and present in a similar vein to Francis Ford Coppola's mafia classic. This new style for the film's storytelling also falls in line with Marvel having reportedly given Zhao plenty of creative freedom in re-writing and directing the MCU chapter.

Additionally, it's interesting to note that Moore reveals Eternals will feature a more basic version of the Deviants as well as an evolved one. Trailers for the MCU film have primarily teased two different forms of the Deviants, with Moore's note seemingly confirming which ones belong to which timelines in the story. Only time will tell the level of danger the Deviants bring to humanity and how the group begins to fracture in the past when Eternals hits theaters on November 5.

More: Eternals Theory: Hulk's Endgame Snap Brought Back The Celestials (Not Deviants)