This article originally appeared on That Hashtag Show.

Welcome back. In Part 1, we took a look at how the Celestial’s experiments on early man in Eternals could provide the MCU with a path to eventually introducing the Greek pantheon, Hercules, Moondragon and Phyla-Vell among others. Part 2 further explored the early history of the Eternals, their rivals the Deviants, their connections to two famed lost contients, Atlantis and Lemuria, and some potential pathways to bring characters like Namor, the Sub-Mariner and relics like the Serpent Crown to the screen.

The Eternals and Deviants, while intriguing and powerful, only make up two-thirds of the genetically engineered population of the Earth. Celestial experimentation also produced a branch of early man that held within them a dormant gene with the potential to unleash incredible powers at some point. Those latent genes were carried by all of mankind’s early ancestors and those who evolved and manifested that potential became known as Homo superior…the mutants of the Marvel Universe.

While Charles Xavier’s X-Men are the most well known mutants, they are not the only and were certainly not the first. While it’s up for debate as to just who the “first mutant” really, was individuals such as Garbha-Hsien, The Forever Man and Amahl Farouk, aka The Shadow King, are among the contenders for the title. The mutant External known as Selene claims to have been born after the Great Cataclysm which saw Atlantis and Lemuria lost to the oceans, and En Sabah Nur has clear ties to Ancient Egypt. Despite the inability to pinpoint the “first mutant” the focus can remain on the fact that mutants have always been among mankind in the Marvel Universe; however, beginning in the late 19th century, their numbers increased exponentially until modern times.

A total of 13 films (including Dark Phoenix and New Mutants) were made by Fox while they held the live-action rights to mutants. Of those 13, nearly half of them were Wolverine-centric to some degree and while dozens of mutants were introduced in those films, they’ve certainly left Marvel Studios plenty of new territory to cover. A future Marvel Studios film featuring a pair of scientists like Herbert Wyndham and Nathaniel Essex could go a long way towards helping viewers uncover and understand the history and science behind mutants and, as in the comics, the post-nuclear proliferation of the mutant population could be a sign (one picked up on in the comics by the Eternals) that the Celestials would soon be back to check on their work.

Of course Fox was gracious enough to have never utilized some insanely popular and interesting characters that have played huge roles in the X-Men books in the past. Fans of the comics know that the X-Men have been into space nearly has often as they have traveled through time and Marvel Studios will certainly not continue in Fox’s footsteps by shying away from the Cosmic side of things. The Starjammer, the Shi’ar and the Brood all provide a number of interesting stories for Kevin Feige to tell and you can bet that Feige has all kinds of ideas for how to fully integrate these characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While it may be a while before we see (or at least hear the word) mutants in the MCU, it sure seems like there’s a great chance that the seeds will be sown in 2021’s Eternals. The catalog of X-Men stories is enough by itself to sustain a cinematic universe, so what’s most interesting is how Feige and his team of executive producers will weave them into the pre-existing tapestry of the MCU. At this point, your guesses are as good as mine, so let’s hear them in the comment section. What stories would you like told when the mutants make their way into the MCU?

This article originally appeared on That Hashtag Show.

Welcome back. In Part 1, we took a look at how the Celestial’s experiments on early man in Eternals could provide the MCU with a path to eventually introducing the Greek pantheon, Hercules, Moondragon and Phyla-Vell among others. Part 2 will further explore the early history of the Eternals, their rivals the Deviants, their connections to two famed lost contients, Atlantis and Lemuria, and some potential pathways to bring them and their host of characters to MCU.

For hundreds of thousands of years, the Eternals stayed in the shadows, emerging only on occasion to war with the Deviants, or dealing with their own problems which were detailed in Part 1. The genetic manipulation of the Deviants DNA allowed to develop more rapidly than mankind and, as a result, they ruled over most of the world by 18,000 BC. Ruling from the fictional lost land of Lemuria, the Deviants terrorized the inhabitants of the Earth and warred with the one region they could not conquer: Atlantis.

Both Atlantis (located in the North Atlantic Ocean, between North America and Europe) and Lemuria (located in the Southern Pacific Ocean near Southern India, Madagascar and Australia) have made their way into pop culture in various ways over the years but Marvel Comics developed what is an absolutely fascinating treatment of the history of both lost continents. In the earliest times, Lemuria was ruled by Sligguth, the demon spawn of the Elder god, Set. The first cities of men were also built on Lemuria at that time and, eventually, mankind defeated Sligguth and his Dragon Kings and took over the continent. For nearly 100,000 years man thrived on the Lemurian Isles under barbarian kings such as King Kull and often fought with the Serpent Men, remnants of Sligguth’s reign, while the Deviants took control of continental Lemuria and the rest of this world, enslaving mankind, with one exception.

On the other side of the world, the kingdom of Atlantis grew from a land of barbarians (Kull himself was born there) into a one of exploration, trade and alchemy. They created trade routes and discovered new places such as the Savage Land and their alchemists were responsible for the construction of the artifact known as the Serpent Crown which was built as a vessel to house the power of the Elder God, Set. As the two great civilizations grew in power, they continued to come into conflict. After the Deviants overtook the Lemurian Isles, they launched a massive attack on Atlantis wielding the power of the Serpent Crown. To fend off the attack, the Atlantean King unleashed the power of Atlantis’s magma pits. While it defeated the Deviants, it also damaged the tectonic plates below and Atlantis was lost to the sea.

It was at this time  that the Celestials, absent from Earth since their genetic experimentation created the Eternals and Deviants, returned to administer the Second Host. Unhappy with how their creations had behaved (the Eternals, for all their power, ignored humanity; the Deviants, in all their cruelty, enslaved it), the Celestials destroyed Lemuria, plunging it underwater and killing most of its Deviant inhabitants. In the comics, this series of events is known as the Great Cataclysm and the flooding of the Earth that followed was responsible for the Ark legend in which the Eternal Utnapishtim built an Ark to help save Earth’s species and his fellow Eternal Ikaris led the Ark to safety.

In the wake of the Great Cataclysm, the Earth was reshaped and man, once again, emerged as the dominant species and spread across the land. This period of nearly 8,000 years became known as the Hyborean Age and saw the likes of Conan and other legends come to life. It was also during this time that the species Homo mermani emerged (some believe through evolution, others believe they were genetically engineered and still others believe that they were survivors of the Great Cataclysm who were transformed either by sorcery or by the god Neptune). While they originally wandered the sea, Homo mermanus eventually found the sunken city of Atlantis and made it their kingdom. At some point, a group of Homo mermanus that worshiped the Elder god, Set, left Atlantis with the Serpent Crown, located sunken Lemuria, and made their home their. That splinter group, led by Naga, came to resemble the early Serpent Men, growing scales and turning green. The Lemurians and Atlanteans became great enemies and have fought against each other for centuries and the Serpent Crown was often at the center of their battles.

Homo mermanus of Lemuria

It doesn’t take a lot of creativity to see the potential here. While the comics present a long, detailed and fantastic story of ancient Earth, Marvel Studios really only has to pick and choose what it would like to show in Eternals in order to set up one of its greatest characters: Namor, the Sub-Mariner. While it’s a subject of speculation and sometimes we like to pretend we know, we truly don’t understand the hangups in the live-action rights that Kevin Feige has hinted at over and again. We do know, however, that Feige’s rhetoric on the subject has evolved over the past several years, culminating with his recent comments which indicated that Namor COULD appear in the MCU and that the studio was pondering the “ifs” and “whens.” While it doesn’t sound like much, that’s as close to confirming plans for Namor as Feige will come and while we don’t know how, we do believe we’ll see the Avenging Son sometime soon.

With a little hand waving here and there, Marvel Studios could establish a brief history of Lemuria and Atlantis, show the Great Cataclysm and the creation/evolution of Homo mermanus. Of course Namor is, at least in the comics, a Homo mermanus/Homo superior hybrid, meaning that his story could be the lynch pin between the story of the Eternals and the X-Men.

Given his age, Namor could appear at any time in the recent history of the MCU and move around as seen fit. While his stories, cast of supporting characters and fan support are worthy of a trilogy of films, it’s unknown exactly what hoops Marvel Studios might have to jump through to make solo Sub-Mariner films. However, should they be capable of going down that road, an origin story that would see Naga or Attuma come into conflict with Namor would be enough to make anyone shout IMPERIUS REX. While fans will be quick to point out that Marvel Studios would just be following the presumed success of DC’s Aquaman, fans of the comics know that while the characters share similar origin stories, they are vastly different men with different values and that Namor has often been the villain (which is probably when he’s at his best). While I’ve long wanted to see Namor square off against T’Challa, The Eternals does provide the opportunity for Marvel Studios to set up a much deeper story for the Lord of the Seven Seas should to be so inclined.

Atlanteans. Lemruians. The Serpent Crown. King Kull and Conan (not sure that Marvel Studios gets to include those characters but it’s still pretty cool). Just a few more potential future stories for the Marvel Cinematic Universe that could spin out of Eternals.

This article originally appeared at That Hashtag Show

When news broke that Marvel Studios was developing film around Eternals, most people were left wondering just who they were. Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige know they are playing with house money at this point, so their apparent willingness to gamble on yet another underappreciated property really isn’t a huge surprise because to this point, those gambles have paid off. Audiences trust the Marvel Studios brand and, for the time being, will continue to line up to see whatever they put on screen. However, as people look to find out more about the cast of characters we will be seeing when Eternals hits theaters on February 12, 2021, they may be surprised to find out that the film, which will likely have its root in the past, has the potential to be the epicenter for the future of the MCU.

When Jack Kirby came back to Marvel Comics in 1976, he created The Eternals and used their story to explore the idea that ancient aliens influenced the evolution of modern man. This is a theme he had played with before during his work on The Inhumans, but really doubled down on in The Eternals following the pop culture craze inspired by the books Chariots of the Gods? and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The theme has been repeated time and time again (Ridley Scott’s fascination with similar ideas certainly showed through in his Alien films and were followed through on in Prometheus), but now may be just the time for it to be fully explored in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While there’s no telling just what Kevin Feige and his team have planned, their love for Kirby’s work has been noticed more and more often over the past several films and it seems possible that they’ll be using one of his most compelling works to put gears into motion that could pay off for another decade. Marvel Studios doesn’t always closely follow the narrative spun by the comics, so anything written here is just my ideas about how Marvel Studios could apply Kirby’s ideas to the MCU.

In The Eternals, Kirby’s space gods were the giant beings known as The Celestials. We’ve already seen Celestials in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and so far, they don’t seem like they’re all that kind. Eson the Searcher wiped out a planet while Ego was set to take over the entire universe and happy to do so while killing all of his children.

Eternals, however, gives the Celestials a chance to redeem themselves a bit and is likely to stick pretty close to the story that Kirby laid over the first 19 issues of the comics and that was expanded upon over the past 40+ years. Created by the universe itself, the Celestials grew to become the great explorers and scientists of the Cosmos, visiting world after world and planting the seeds of evolution. On such a visit to Earth over 1,000,000 years ago, the Celestials encountered early man and as part of the First Host (the first of a series of 4 tests Celestials administer on all the planets where they meddle with evolution), and performed the experiments that would ultimately produce 3 offshoots of humanity: the Eternals, the Deviants and the Latents.

The Celestial known as Ziran the Tester created the Deviants of Earth (Homo descendus) by mutating their DNA, creating an unstable genome which caused each creature to undergo a unique mutation.The Deviants were sometimes hideous, often powerful and became villified throughout history as the monsters and demons of legend. The Celestial named Nezzar the Calculator created the Earthly Eternals (Homo immortus), beings of great beauty who would go on to become the heroes of legend and do battle with the Deviants for centuries. Finally, the Celestial known as Oneg the Prober experimented by adding a latent gene with the potential for mutation which would later manifest itself as the X-gene in Homo superior. Their work complete, the Celestials left Earth leaving the 3 offshoots of early man to fend for themselves. It would be somewhat surprising if we didn’t see the First Host at some point in Eternals or another film.

We know that we’ll be seeing the Terran Eternals in the 2020 film and though they were absent from the list of characters we mentioned, it would hardly be surprising to see their archenemies the Deviants in the film as well. The hatred and warring between them is reason enough to tell their story, a story which can lay the groundwork for many others. Of course Disney’s pending acquisition of the Fox-owned Marvel characters leaves open the titillating notion that Eternals could also provide the origin story for mutants in the MCU. Assuming that their deal is closed by the time the film begins production (tentatively scheduled to begin in London on September 4, 2019) it would take just a minor tweak to any existing script to tease their existence and thrill fans. While that’s far from certain, it’s also hardly the only interesting connection that can be made and so for now, we’ll put aside the enormous potential of mutants in the MCU and speculate as to how the rocky relationship among the Eternals and between the Eternals and Deviants can set up future films and also provide an explanation for some things we’ve already seen.

As the Eternals developed, they built a city called Titanos in Northern Asia. For a time Titanos was ruled by two of the earliest Eternals, the brothers Kronos and Uranos. Kronos was a man of science and philosophy whereas Uranos hungered for war and conquest. The two eventually went to war over Uranos’ wish to rule the planet. Kronos defeated his brother in single combat to end the war and exiled Uranos and his followers into the cosmos.

With Titanos destroyed and its population decimated, Kronos went about the rebuilding of the Titanos. Kronos carried on his scientific studies and fathered two sons, A’Lars and Zuras, whom he made swear an oath that they would never turn on each other the way he and his brother, Uranos, did. While experimenting with the cosmic energy that Eternals wield, Kronos accidentally caused the complete destruction of the rebuilt Titanos and vaporized himself. He later awoke, his mind having become one with the universe, and ascended to godlike levels eventually developing the ability to control and manipulate time. As those events unfolded on Earth, Uranos and his fellow exiles found their way through the cosmos, landing first on Uranus, where a small colony of Eternals remained, and then on one of Saturn’s moons, which they named Titan in honor of their former home. Titan developed for generations before the entity known as the Dragon of the Moon seeded mistrust between the colonists, mistrust that eventually grew into a war which claimed the lives of all but one of Titan’s inhabitants: Sui-San.

Back on Earth in the wake of Kronos’ death, the Eternals discovered the ability to create the Uni-Mind (they all meld together into one collective consciousness) and used it to determine which of Kronos’ sons should lead them into the future. The Uni-Mind chose Zuras as the leader and he lead his people to build 3 new Eternal cities: Olympia, in the Greek Mountains, Oceana in the Pacific Ocean and Polaira, located in northern Russia. From these 3 cities, many generations of Eternals were born. As for his brother, A’lars, kept his father’s dying wish and left Earth of his own accord. In search of a new home, A’lars eventually found the settlement on Titan and worked together with Sui-San to repopulate the colony. He and Sui-San had two children of their own: Thanos and his younger brother, Eros.

From these stories we can see a genealogy that has already influenced the MCU. A’lars, the father of Thanos, was name dropped in Avengers: Infinity War while Thanos was questing for the Soul Stone on Vormir. The early history of the Eternals which pitted brother against brother and ultimately led to the colonization of the cosmos by Terran Eternals certainly feels like something that could (maybe even SHOULD) come into play in the MCU. The character breakdowns we revealed indicated that the cities ruled over by the children of Kronos are both likely to feature in the film. Zuras and his daughter, Thena, are each set to be leads in the film as is A’lars other son, Eros, aka Starfox. In the comics Zuras and the Olympian Eternals were often mistaken for the gods of the Greek Pantheon (Zuras/Zeus, Thena/Athena, Makkari/Hermes) or as other legendary Greek figures (Sersi was the legendary witch Circe from The Odyssey).  They made a deal with the Greek gods and it was all rather confusing in the comics. It would MUCH simpler, and not out of line with prior practice, for Marvel Studios to eliminate the confusion and just make the Eternals the Greek gods. If they were to do that, they could create a direct route to introducing the MCU version of Hercules, one of the most iconic Avengers yet to reach the big screen. We do know that they are looking for a male lead to portray a “Greek god” and that one of Herc’s pals, Gilgamesh, is set to appear in the film and are hopeful that means we’ll be getting to see Herc join the MCU in 2020 (and if we get Herc, can Ares be far behind?). We know that Feige has often said that one of the fun things about the Avengers is the rotating roster and if this movie introduces Hercules, Sersi and Starfox, they could join Monica Rambeau (set to be introduced as a young girl in Captain Marvel) as potential members of a future ensemble film.

As for the business on Titan, it’s safe to say that it’s a little more confusing and also a little more exciting. It’s important to remember that with a group of essentially immortal beings, this story can be told at any point, or points, in time. Starfox’s inclusion likely assures us of a trip to Titan and one that might well take place before the destruction described by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Josh Brolin has stated he’d happily return to work as Thanos again and it would not be surprising to see it happen. Should we see a pre-cataclysmic Titan, we might be fortunate enough to see Thanos’ parents, A’lars and Sui-San, develop the sentient super computer known as I.S.A.A.C.. I.S.A.A.C. controlled almost all of Titan and created several artificially engineered Titanian Eternals to aid him in his duties. One such creation, Elysius, is set to appear in the film and while her comic adventures were brief, they are noteworthy: Elysius used the DNA of the Kree hero Mar-Vell and created two children: Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell, the latter of whom became Quasar, the protector of the universe, and an integral character in the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest story lines. Finally, there’s the business of the unknown character known as “Karen.” Described as being international with a timeless feel, “Karen” is set to be a powerful leader who is warm, intuitive and nurturing but also capable of kicking ass. Since there are no Karens involved with the Eternals, we’ve been left to speculate on just who this character might be and one of our favorite guesses is that this will be the MCU version of Moondragon. It would require some changes from the comics to be sure, but James Gunn’s decisions on characters in Guardians of the Galaxy has made those very possible. If we’re going to toss around ideas, we like the idea of adding one of Marvel’s most powerful females to the MCU.

As you can see the potential exists for several new characters and story lines to emerge from this film and that’s just part one. The Greek pantheon. The Dragon of the Moon. Phyla-Vell. The untold ancient history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sounds like the types of things that could set up another 10 years of stories.