Thanos's Snap Could Shape The Story Of Marvel's Eternals Movie

Thanos's (Josh Brolin) actions in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame could shape the story of Marvel's Eternals movie. What Thanos did to the universe in Avengers: Infinity War is the single biggest event in the history of the MCU, and it stands to reason that even though the snap has been reversed, the consequences will extend far beyond Endgame and into one of Phase 4's most anticipated films, Eternals.

In Avengers: Infinity War, the heroes of Earth rallied to stop Thanos from gathering the six Infinity Stones and assembling the Infinity Gauntlet, but failed. Unfortunately, their failure resulted in catastrophe for the MCU. Thanos snapped his fingers and achieved his dream of killing half of everyone in the universe, just as he did in Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet miniseries from the 1980s. His snap erased most of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and several more key MCU heroes.

In the sequel, Avengers: Endgame, what was left of Earth's Mightiest Heroes killed Thanos and used time travel to undo what Thanos did to the universe. After gathering the infinity stones from the past, the Avengers assembled a makeshift Infinity Gauntlet, allowing Professor Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to bring back the people killed by the snap five years ago. In the final Phase 3 movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Marvel further addressed the effect of the snap on regular people and characters like Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Marvel's Eternals movie may go a step further by making it a focal point of the story.

Thanos Is An Eternal In Marvel Comics (& Could Be One In The MCU)

Thanos sitting on his throne in Marvel Comics

Thanos isn't in Eternals, but he is an Eternal in the comic books, even if he's not from the same planet as the Eternals featured in the film. There are two major groups of Earth-based Eternals in the comics, the Olympian and the Polar Eternals, but there exist other branches of Eternals in the Marvel Universe. Thousands of years ago, the Eternal Kronos had two sons: A'lars and Zuras. Zuras remained on Earth and became the leader of his own group, while A'lars headed off into space and formed a separate colony of Eternals on Saturn's moon, Titan. A'lars's son is Thanos, which means he's related by blood to many of the main Eternals, including Thena (Angelina Jolie), who is his first cousin. Thanos looks so different than all the others Eternals because even though Thanos is an Eternal, he possesses the Deviant gene. The Deviants are the monstrous, hideously deformed, genetic cousins of the Eternals.

Is Thanos an Eternal in the MCU? That question hasn't been answered, but it's certainly possible. Marvel could give Thanos his comic book origin story to establish a connection between the upcoming Eternals film and one of the most important characters in the MCU. Thanos being an Eternal could explain his immense strength, and since there's still a lot that still isn't known about his early life, Eternals provides a perfect opportunity to explore Thanos's past. Eternals could dig into the history of his species, which was touched upon in Infinity War, and briefly discuss the different families of Eternals that have spread out across the galaxy. Among them could be Thanos, and maybe even his brother Starfox.

The Celestials Are A Constant Threat To The Eternals In Marvel Comics

Thanos being an Eternal means that he owes his existence to their creators, the Celestials. These towering, god-like beings used their powers and genius intellects to experiment with DNA and genetically engineer entire races like the Eternals and the Deviants. The Celestials perform these experiments all over the universe, but even though they're always traveling, they don't simply create life and forget about it. The Eternals periodically return to the places where they've conducted their experiments and observe the activities of their creations in order to see how they're faring. Not all of their experiments prove to be successes, and sometimes the Celestials feel that they have no choice but to destroy what they have worked so hard to make. That's where Celestials like Exitar the Exterminator come in and eliminate worlds that fail to live up to their expectations.

Ikaris explained in Jack Kirby's original Eternals comic book series that the Celestials make a voyage to Earth every thousand years to pass judgment on the planet. For this reason, the Eternals have to be careful not to upset or do anything that would earn the disappointment of the Celestials, particularly Arishem the Judge. Just as his name implies, it's his job to determine which civilizations are worthy of living and which ones should go extinct. The Celestials take every action into consideration when making their judgments.

Thanos May Have Angered The Celestials In The MCU

Thanos wearing the Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers Infinity War

Having the approval of the Celestials is critical to the survival of the Eternals in Marvel Comics, so what could Thanos's snap mean for the Eternals in the MCU? Thanos killed half of everyone in the universe, and if he is an Eternal like his comic book counterpart, there could be long-standing consequences for the other members of his species. Thanos killing half of everyone could mean that the Celestials too were affected. The Celestials could gather from this that creating the Eternals was a colossal mistake that needs to be corrected.

If so, what Thanos did in Avengers: Infinity War could kick off the story for Marvel's Eternals movie. If Thanos just gave the Celestials a reason to eliminate the rest of his kind, the Eternals may have to give them a reason to reserve judgment. The official synopsis of Eternals confirms that the Eternals have to unite to defeat the Deviants. Perhaps beating the Deviants is their last and only chance to stave off their extinction and prove to the Celestials that they're still worthy of living. If this is the case, the Celestials and the Deviants may be the main villains, but it could be Thanos who's ultimately responsible for everything that happens to them in Eternals' present-day story. With Thanos's ghost potentially hanging over them throughout the entire movie, the effect of what Thanos did in Infinity War could be greatly felt in Phase 4 of the MCU.

More: Every Way Avengers: Endgame Sets Up Marvel's Eternals Movie