Spoilers for The Eternals #3 ahead!

In The Eternals #3, Marvel reveals a scary truth about superheroes, and in particular extremely powerful ones such as Superman: that their mere presence in an area signal that danger is near, and the more powerful the hero, the more severe the threat.

The Eternals have a long history at Marvel, both in-universe and out. After a stint at DC Comics in the early 1970s, Jack Kirby returned to Marvel and created The Eternals, among others. Within the Marvel Universe, the Eternals are an ancient off-shoot of humanity, created by experiments on early humans by the mysterious Celestials and these experiments gave them fantastic powers. Throughout the millennia, the Eternals largely lived separately from humans, but occasionally intervened in their affairs, and may have inspired many myths and legends of Earth’s past, such as Gilgamesh; this iconoclastic approach to mythology makes the Eternals perfect for revealing a disturbing truth about super-heroes.

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Ikaris, the leader of the Eternals, is seeking young Toby Robson for a mysterious purpose and his search brings him to the Robson residence in New York. As Ikaris floats above the house silently, a crowd starts to gather, and a sense of unease sets in. Toby’s father is at a loss for why, feeling that flying people are commonplace, especially in New York. He frets over how his property value might tank in the wake of this, or how he will deal with the planning commission. When giant-sized hail, the product of a coming, unnatural storm falls, everyone disperses to their houses and Ikaris finally enters the Robson house.

Toby’s father lamenting his property values when facing a potential incident with a super-powered person reminds readers that there are almost always casualties and property damage when heroes fight villains; seeing one just hanging around the neighborhood could be a harbinger of bad things to come. If the hero hanging around just happens to be extremely powerful, such as Ikaris or Superman, then that might be a tipoff that something really powerful, and bad, is heading that way; the hail that came was not a significant threat in itself but was indeed a harbinger of bad things to come. Toby’s father was no doubt worried for his home, but also for his very life.

The Eternals will soon be making their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut this Fall, and Marvel is slowly redefining their place in their universe. Along the way, they have used the Eternals as a way of calling attention to some disturbing truths about powerful heroes, like Superman. The Eternals #3 is written by Kieron Gillen, with art by Esad Ribic and colors by Matthew Wilson; the issue is available in stores now and on all digital comics platforms.

Next:  Superman is Powerful Enough to Literally Create New Stars