The first Eternals trailer depicted Gemma Chan's Sersi arriving on Earth - and her reaction perfectly reverses that offered by her previous Captain Marvel character. Based on Jack Kirby's titular race of characters, the Eternals will burst onto screens later in Phase 4. In the process, they will change everything fans thought they knew about the MCU's history. Living on Earth in secret, the Eternals come with a range of powers that they've used to subtly guide and advance humanity across the centuries. In their first cinematic outing, however, they will finally step out of the shadows to protect the world from new threats.

Eternals boasted a star-studded cast including Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, and countless others. Despite the ensemble nature of the ambitious movie, MCU architect, Kevin Feige, declared that Chan's Sersi was considered the lead. The decision made sense, since the comics established Sersi as the most powerful at matter manipulation. Equally, she's the group member with the strongest kinship with humanity. As such, it would track that she'd lead the decision to eschew the Eternals' "no interference" rule. That love for Earth and the human race was evident from the moment Sersi first laid eyes on them in the Eternals trailer.

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Standing alongside Ikaris (Richard Madden), Sersi surveyed their future home with warmth. Turning to Ikaris, she said: "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Though worded like a question, it was delivered much more like a statement. With the character of Ajak (Hayek) assuming voiceover duties, a brief montage of scenes offered a taste of Sersi more directly bonding with humans. With that fondness lasting across the 7000+ years to present day, she still viewed the world with similar awe alongside Kit Harington's Dane Whitman (a.k.a. Black Knight). It was both heartwarming and an amusingly stark contrast to Chan's previous MCU character.

Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva Brie Larson as Carol Danvers Captain Marvel

As many will already be aware, the actress made her official MCU debut back in 2019's Captain Marvel. As Minn-Erva, Chan starred alongside Brie Larson's Carol Danvers as a member of the Kree's elite Starforce unit. After Carol learned the truth of her past, the former teammates became fierce enemies - with Minn-Erva finally able to embrace the animosity she felt towards her. That hostility wasn't limited to Captain Marvel, however. Earlier in the movie, Minn-Erva was asked by Bron-Char (Rune Temte) whether she'd ever been to Earth (designated C-53 by the Kree). "Once," she curtly answered. "It's a real shi*hole!"

Given Eternals writer/director Chloé Zhao (as well as Marvel Studios') attention to detail, the move had to have been intentional. After all, when Kenneth Choi appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming as Peter Parker's high-school principal, the character was tied to Jim Morita - Choi's previous character from Captain America: The First Avenger. To not similarly reference the conscious choice to reuse Chan would've been a missed opportunity.

As it stood, the respective lines of dialogue served to highlight the differences between the actress' respective characters. Where Minn-Erva was overtly villainous, Sersi will be every bit the hero - openly battling the beings known as Deviants and maybe even a secret villain within the Eternals themselves. Equally, it served as fun dialogue-based Easter egg for fans to notice. Whether additional references to the dual roles or other elements of Captain Marvel in general will be made clear when Eternals is finally released in November.

Next: What Is Eternals Story? Everything We Know About The Plot

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