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With the Infinity Saga coming to a close, Marvel Studios is preparing to launch into an all-new, all-different era beginning with Phase 4. While several properties are going to serve as deeper dives into already established characters and worlds, Eternals is going to introduce new characters and change what we think we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Eternals were born in the mind of Jack Kiby as Marvel Comics “ancient aliens”: beings of immense power who had protected Earth since the beginning of time. Over the course of history, the Eternals and their enemies, the Deviants, worked their way into the religions and mythologies of many cultures gods and monsters, angels and devils and heroes and villains. Marvel Studios will certainly put their own spin on the characters, but we can still take an opportunity to get to know them here…in 400 words or less!

The speedster of the Eternals, Makkari’s comic book history actually predates any of his peers. A series of retcons allowed a Golden Age character named Mercury, who first appeared in 1940’s Red Raven Comics #1, to be reworked into Makkari. The character was introduced into the modern day in Eternals #5 where he joined fellow Eternal Sersi in a NYC battle against the Deviants, the bitter foes of the Eternals. Makkari played an integral role in Neil Gaiman’s 2006 run in which all of the Eternals fell victim to the machinations of Sprite and had forgotten who they were. Living in the city as Mark Curry, Makkari was visited by Ikaris who was the first of the group to regain his memories. Eventually regaining his memories and powers, Makkari was duped by Sprite into opening a path to the Dreaming Celestial, one of the great Space Gods whose act of defiance left him trapped beneath San Francisco for centuries. Unconscious, Makkari began to commune with the Dreaming Celestial, a job traditionally filled by Ajak, and eventually working as the prophetic mouthpiece of the entity.

Actress Lauren Ridloff will bring the speedster to life in Eternals, though with some significant changes to the comic book characters. Unlike the comics, Makkari will be presented as a female in the film (joining Ajak as gender-swapped members of the team); additionally, Ridloff is deaf and will be portraying the character as such. While it remains to be seen, it’s been speculated that Makkari will, as in the comics, communicate with the Celestials at some point, either sharing or taking the job from Salma Hayek’s Ajak.

With the Infinity Saga coming to a close, Marvel Studios is preparing to launch into an all-new, all-different era beginning with Phase 4. While several properties are going to serve as deeper dives into already established characters and worlds, Eternals is going to introduce new characters and change what we think we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Eternals were born in the mind of Jack Kirby as Marvel Comics “ancient aliens”: beings of immense power who had protected Earth since the beginning of time. Over the course of history, the Eternals and their enemies, the Deviants, worked their way into the religions and mythologies of many cultures gods and monsters, angels and devils and heroes and villains. Marvel Studios will certainly put their own spin on the characters, but we can still take an opportunity to get to know them here…in 400 words or less!

Ikaris, who first appeared in Eternals #1, is one of the oldest and most powerful Eternals in existence. After tens of thousands of years of protecting humanity from the Deviant threat, Ikaris earned the title of Prime Eternal, making him the leader of the Eternals of Earth and responsible for the formation of one of the Eternals most fascinating gifts: the Uni-Mind. The Uni-Mind merges both the will and intelligence of each Eternal into a collective consciousness, something they typically only do to deliberate on matters on great consequence. Born a Polarian Eternal like Ajak, Ikaris, whose birth name is unknown, has lived all over the world during his life, including Greece where he married a human woman with whom he had a son: the Icarus of legend who flew too close to the sun. Ikaris took the name of his son in his memory and then spent a great portion of his life preparing for the coming of the Fourth Host of Celestials. More recently when all the Eternals lost their memories of who they were, it was Ikaris (using the name Ike Harris), who set out to help restore them. Like all the Eternals, Ikaris has the ability to reduce himself down to atoms and store them for long periods of time before reassembling himself or being reassembled. In this way, the Eternals are immortal.

Ikaris will be portrayed by the King in the North, Richard Madden. Set photos of Madden seem to show him facing off with Celestials on Earth, meaning we might just be seeing the Fourth Host, the group of Celestials who come to Earth to pass final judgement on the species they created, in the film! Madden’s Ikaris will be one of the film’s primary leads and his story will include a love triangle between  Ikaris, Gemma Chan’s Sersi and Kit Harrington‘s Dane Whitman.

Eternals will hit theaters November 5th!

With the Infinity Saga coming to a close, Marvel Studios is preparing to launch into an all-new, all-different era beginning with Phase 4. While several properties are going to serve as deeper dives into already established characters and worlds, Eternals is going to introduce new characters and change what we think we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Eternals were born in the mind of Jack Kiby as Marvel Comics “ancient aliens”: beings of immense power who had protected Earth since the beginning of time. Over the course of history, the Eternals and their enemies, the Deviants, worked their way into the religions and mythologies of many cultures gods and monsters, angels and devils and heroes and villains. Marvel Studios will certainly put their own spin on the characters, but we can still take an opportunity to get to know them here…in 400 words or less!

First introduced in Eternals #2 (1976), Ajak is one of the Polar Eternals, a group of the immortal beings who was born near Siberia. While he was mistaken for many heroes over the year, including the Greek warrior Ajax, he more importantly was believed to be the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl and the Incan god Tecumotzin. It was in this guise that he made his introduction into the comics during the “Tomb of the Gods” arc that it is believed will serve as at least a partial inspiration for the film. Ajak has always demonstrated a deep understanding of the Celestials as well as being able to converse with them and, in his introduction, served as the expository device for the grand history and plan of the Celestials, including their return to judge their creations!

Salma Hayek will bring the character of Ajak to life in Marvel Studios Eternals. We know the character will serve as the spiritual leader of the group and, true to the comics, she will serve as the point of communication between the Eternals and the Celestials. Given the character’s comic book history with the Space Gods, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Hayek’s character given the honor of explaining the hidden history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the audience.

Marvel Studios Eternals is currently set to hit theaters February 12, 2021!