Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on November 16, 2018.
Marvel Studios The Eternals is set to become the pivot point for the past, present and future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The characters ties to a vast number of heroes, both here on Earth and elsewhere in the Cosmos, provide a unique opportunity to tell any number of stories. The film, which is set to go into production next fall in London, will introduce audiences to a wide-range of characters, most of which general audiences will be entirely unfamiliar with. We’ve been fortunate enough to find out just which characters those will be and are now happy to share them with you. Below get your first look at the characters of Marvel Studios 2020 film, The Eternals.
As you read it’ll be obvious that the studio lifted the majority of the descriptions straight from Wikipedia, but the real story here is identifying which characters they’ve chosen to focus on. It seems that they’ll be taking much inspiration from the original Kirby run while also working in some of Neil Gaiman’s themes. Nate Moore will be overseeing the project as Marvel Studios turns to Sarah Finn to find their cast!
Karen
The studio is looking to cast an actress in her early 30s for the role of “KAREN.” Open to any nationality or ethnicity particularly Middle Eastern, African and Native American. Powerful, a timeless quality, a leader. Warm, nurturing and intuitive… AKA she can kick- ass but had warmth. Should have an international/ timeless feel.
Male Lead
An unknown male described only as a Greek God. Could we be getting Hercules?
Druig
It seems the villain of the piece will be the Eternal know as Druig, who first appeared in Eternals #11 in 1977. Though he was a Kirby creation, he gained notoriety after his appearance in Neil Gaiman’s 2000’s Eternals revival.
Druig possesses the conventional abilities of an Eternal, he can manipulate all forms of matter and energy, including the atoms of his own body. He can teleport, manipulate gravitation in order to fly, control the minds of others, and project energy from his body, usually from the hands or eyes. – In modern times, Druig served as an agent of the KGB in Russia, and found that he enjoyed torturing people. When Ziran the Tester came through Polaria, Druig planned to slay him using “ the Weapon”, which he had learned of by torturing his cousin Ikaris, but Ikaris disintegrated Druig before he could fire the Weapon. His body was then recovered by the Celestials , and put into everlasting containment at the Desecration Annex.
Piper
The studio is looking to cast a lead female, 10-16 years old of any nationality or ethnicity in the role of “Piper”. Strong, charismatic presence with a magnetic personality. Wise beyond her years, articulate and quick-witted. Natural acting ability and some type of athletic background a plus. Though it’s not clear here, it seems that this might be the studio taking a new slant on the Eternal known as Sprite.
Elysisus
Marvel is looking for an actress, 20-40, for the surprising role of Elysius
Elysius is an artificially created being patterned in and possessing the attributes of the long-lived offshoot of humanity called Eternals. She has superhuman stamina, and her strength, speed, and durability are higher than that of a human. Elysius possesses an extremely long lifespan and immunity to all terrestrial diseases. Elysius has limited telepathic abilities of an I revealed nature. She keeps griffin like creatures which obey her telepathic commands. She uses an alien hand- weapon capable of disrupting force fields or of firing energy of an unspecified nature as bursts concussive force. Elysius was created by ISAAC, the sentient computer system of Titan. She’s serves as ISAAC’s lieutenant, and aided ISAAC in its conquest of Titan. She later aided Captain Mar- Vell, and Drax the Destroyer against ISAAC, Stellarax, Lord Gaea, and Chaos. She the. Began her romance with Mar-Vell.
Forgotten One
The studio is looking for a male, ages 25-45, to play the Forgotten One, aka Gilgamesh! Gilgamesh became an outcast from his fellow Eternals when their ruler, Zuras, decreed that he had been too proud a meddler in the human world and confined him to a sector of Olympus. He was eventually convinced to come out of exile and journey to the mother-ship of the Fourth Host of the Celestials to assist the Eternals in the battle against the Deviants by the Eternal called Sprite. He possesses a number of super-human abilities common to the Eternals, but has trained some of them far beyond the norm. The Forgotten One is one of the most accomplished hand-to-hand combatants among the Eternals and usually arms himself with simple hand weapons such as an axe, spear or club. Gilgamesh first appeared in Eternals #13.
Ikaris
The studio is looking for a male, 20-40, to play Ikaris, an Eternal born over 20,000 years ago in the Eternal city of Polaria. His lifeforce is augmented with Cosmic energy and he has total mental control over his physical form and bodily processes even when he is asleep or unconscious. He has low level psychic abilities, enabling him to scan the superficial thoughts of any mind, less adapt them to his own. He can mentally create illusions as to describe himself.
Makkari
The studio is once again on the lookout for a male, 25-45, to play the fleet-footed Makkari. Born in Olympia, one of 3 Eternal cities on Earth, Makkari is a member of the Eternals Technologist’s Guild and is skilled at designing and building high-speed vehicles. He possesses super-human, speed, strength and reflexes.
Sersi
For the role of Sersi, the studio is looking for a female, 20-40. Sersi is a fourth generation member of the Eternals. She differs from her fellow Eternals in her desire to live amongst humans. She does not age and can only be killed if her atoms are scattered.
Starfox
A pleasant surprise among those listed is Eros, aka Starfox. the brother of Thanos. The studio is looking for a male, 25-45, to play Eros of Titan!
Eros is a member of the Eternals, a genetic offshoot of humanity, that left for deep space from Earth thousands of years ago and settled on Saturn’s moon of Titan. Eros is the youngest son of A’lars (also known as Mentor) and Sui-San, and he grew up on Titan to be a fun-loving, carefree womanizer and adventurer in contrast to his brother Thanos, a power-hungry, nihilistic conqueror. He can harness his cosmic powers to enable himself to fly at subsonic speed and his reduced need of oxygen and the capability to hold his breath for quite some time, enables him to survive the rigors of open space and underwater travel.
Starfox can psionically stimulate the pleasure centers in nearby people’s brains, making them calm and open to suggestion using his persuasion skill. It has been suggested that when in physical contact, and there is direct line of sight between the subject and the target, Starfox can use this euphoria effect to cause a person or persons to become infatuated with him, objects, or people of his choosing or simply to make others feel good while in his presence. His overall resistance to injury is somewhat lower than that of the average Eternal but like any Eternal, he possesses exceptional healing capabilities.
Thena
An actress 20-40 is being sought for the role of Thena.
Thena was born in the city of Olympia in ancient Greece, and is thus one of the Eternals of Olympia. Originally named Azura, but her father Zuras had her name changed by royal decree to resemble that of Zeus’ daughter Athena to seal the treaty between their two peoples.
Thena became a scholar and a warrior as she grew. Like all Eternals, she has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes. Thena also possesses the ability to manipulate cosmic energy to augment her life force, granting her virtual invulnerability and immortality, the ability to project cosmic energy from her eyes or hands in the form of heat, light, or concussive force and possibly other powers. Thena has total mental control over her physical form, granting virtual invulnerability and immortality. She also has the ability to levitate herself and thus fly at superhuman speed, the psionic ability to rearrange the molecular structure of objects, the ability to cast illusions to disguise her appearance and that of others from the perceptions of normal human beings, the ability to teleport herself and others with her, and the ability to initiate formation of the Uni-Mind.
She carries a bow that fires arrows that release “cold energy”, and she carries an energy spear that surrounds victims with a ring of intense heat and light or bombards them with anti-gravitons.
Zuras
Zuras was born in Titanos, first city of the Eternals, and is the son of the Eternals Kronos and Daina, and brother of A’Lars (Mentor). With his wife Cybele, he has a daughter Thena.Zuras was a warrior, and vied with his brother A’lars (whom he exiled into space) for leadership of the Eternals of Titanos following Kronos’ death. Zuras was the first Eternal to form a Uni-Mind by creating the first ritual of the Uni-Mind, and was therefore chosen to become leader of the Eternals of Earth.
Zuras has achieved above average development of the normal attributes of the race of Eternals through great discipline. He possesses superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability, and can fly at subsonic speeds. Zuras possesses the ability to manipulate cosmic energy to augment his life force granting him great longevity and regenerative abilities, the projection of concussive force, heat and electrical energy up to a maximum range of 300 feet.
He could also use cosmic energy to create force shields around himself, to levitate himself and/or others, and to psionically manipulate molecules so as to transform an object’s shape.Zuras possesses extensive knowledge of ancient and arcane wisdom.
This cast of characters certainly gives us much to ponder as we wonder about the film’s plot. Notable by their absence are the Deviants, another offshoot of humanity created by the Celestials that have warred with the Eternals for generations! What do you think we’ll see in 2020?
