Marvel Studios’ Eternals is set to release to the public in cinemas on November 5, but the press train has already begun to chug down the tracks. In a global press conference earlier today, actor Richard Madden spoke about the internal conflict of his character, Ikaris, as it’s portrayed throughout the film. It’s been known for some time that Eternals would be heavily influenced by the love story between Madden’s hero and Gemma Chan‘s Sersi, and now the leading man has commented directly on how it’s made the experience playing Ikaris different from his previous roles:
I really loved it. I’m kind of used to playing lovers often, and to play someone who’s such a soldier but is completely driven by love. All his decisions are driven by love and it’s actually him that’s wrestling with that. I’m used to characters who are very focused on their love and that comes out, and with Ikaris it’s the opposite of that. He’s kind of trying to bury that love because it gets in the way of his duty and he’s constantly wrestling the two.
The former Game of Thrones star continued with an explanation of how this direction for the character made an impact on his portrayal of the role:
And that’s kind of what made it really interesting for me to pull out that relationship with all the characters, from Sprite to Sersi, and kind of work out what this relationship is when you’re trying to stick to duty but feelings get in the way.
These quotes go a long way in hinting at the idea that Eternals could be an overwhelmingly human experience, despite focusing mainly on gods and monsters. The film releases shortly, so we won’t have long to find out.
