Marvel Studios caught fans off guard with their early morning drop of the first full trailer for their upcoming film, Eternals. The trailer not only showcased the beautiful scenery we’ve heard so much about alongside impressive displays of power from the group, but also seemingly gave a major clue as to what exactly the ancient aliens will be fighting against in the film.
While the trailer finally showcases the Deviants, the changing people who are forever pitted against the Eternals, it also indicates that while they pose a formidable threat, they’re not the biggest threat to Earth. In the trailers opening moments, Salma Hayek’s Ajak explains that when Bruce Banner snapped half of the Earth’s population back into existence, it provided enough for something called “the emergence” to begin. The way the trailer is cut, it’s easy enough to believe that the emergence refers to a new wave of Deviants coming forth to threaten the Earth; however, given the trailer’s heavy emphasis on Celestials and the fact that part of the film seems to be about assembling the team for a larger threat, it seems like a more terrifying, underlying threat may be looming.
Underlying may be the key descriptor for the film’s true threat, if comic book (alternate) history is to be followed. In 1999, Marvel Comics published Earth X, a limited series from creators Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and John Paul Leon. Taking place on Earth-997, Earth X was notable for Ross’ incredible redesigns of several characters who inhabited a wild dystopian possible future. Central to the series’ plot (and potentially to Eternals) was the seemingly crazy idea that the Celestials had implanted an egg at the center of Earth that, after eons of gestating and being protected by the Eternals would “emerge” and destroy the Earth. Interestingly enough, the Celestial eggs are also used to explain why that universe’s Galactus (revealed to be Franklin Richards) gets busy eating planets.
Earth X was enormously popular and spawned three additional series, the most recent having been published in 2020. That said, it’s still relatively unknown, as are the Eternals, so it would provide a wonderful bit of influence for Marvel Studios big screen adaptation. If the “emergence” Ajak is talking about is indeed that of a Celestial emerging from the Earth’s core, the Deviants are going to seem like small potatoes to the team of Eternals.
Eternals is set to hit theaters November 5, 2021.
