Warning: Spoilers for Marvel's Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads #4!
As Marvel Comics' infamous race of immortal superhumans near their cinematic debut, the Eternals are once again unifying with another race of ancient Marvel royalty in the form of Thor and the Asgardians. Thor and The Eternals have a deep history that ties back several decades into Marvel's past, due in part to a host of powerful cosmic engineers, the Celestials.
Peter David (The Incredible Hulk) and Greg Land (Astonishing X-Men)'s Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads #4 finds the wall-crawler alongside a demonic variation of the Hulk on a crossroad adventure to Lemuria, ruled by the monstrous and savage Deviant race. This sect of Deviants is ruled by their rightful leader Kro, who is the sworn archenemy of the Eternals. It isn't long before Hulk begins to initiate a hostile takeover of the Deviants' home territory, which is unsurprisingly rewarded with violence and gunfire. Luckily, the "strangely clad" hero Spider-Man and his irritated accomplice are aided by new stowaway Eternals, Ikaris and Thena. With Hulk under the influence of the Asgaridan sorceress Karnilla's powerful Norn Stones, Spider-Man and the Eternals begin to retake control of Lemuria, only for original manipulator Karnilla to make her move.
Before their temporary ceasefire comes to an end, Deviant commander Kro offers the ignorant Hulk a brief albeit detailed history lesson on the Norn Stones and their creation at the hands of the Celestials. Ancient space gods, the Celestials are the harbingers of the universe and among the premier entities in Marvel's massive cosmic hierarchy. The Celestials are well established within comics lore, but what hasn't been established is their connection to the Asgardian Norn Stones. It was formerly believed that the Stones had been a product of Asgard's realm Nornheim. However, Symbiote Spider-Man reveals that the Norn Stones were indeed a Celestial creation, which granted the beings an ability to travel throughout space.
Within the chronology of Marvel Comics, Thor previously encountered the Eternals in 1978's Thor Annual#7 along with#283-285 of his own self-titled Mighty Thor series. This four-part series, known today as The Eternals Saga, was a cross-spanning adventure that saw the Asgardian God of Thunder allying himself with classic Eternals such as Ikaris, Thena, and Sersi to combat the Celestials. However, the event would conclude with Thor's memories of his original encounter with the Eternals being erased from the hero's mind, separating the two superhero properties once again. Before a team up with Thor, Jack Kirby's Eternals had largely been a standalone comic book with only minor connections to the wider Marvel Universe of heroes and villains.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe prepares to kick off a new era of expansion with Eternals, it's no surprise that Marvel would want the race of Homo immortalis as intricately connected with its wider universe as possible, even at the detriment of shifting established continuity. The MCU itself seems poised to pave the way for a future crossover between Chris Hemsworth's Thor and this latest group of immortal beings. While the Eternals film looks to be a fairly standalone affair, there is rampant speculation of certain seeds being planted for next summer's Thor Love and Thunder. Only time will tell if Marvel's film studio will repeat the trend, but Marvel Comics' Thor and Eternals look to be firmly connected for the time being. Marvel's Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads #4 is now available.