It’s becoming increasingly difficult for comic book creators to come up with brand new superpowers that haven’t been done before, when the medium has grown so vast that almost every unique ability of note has been seen on either the printed page or in live-action, animation or video games ten times over.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Eternals has already seen Richard Madden’s Ikaris invite comparisons to DC’s Superman, while Lauren Ridoff’s Makkari possesses super speed very similar to that of the Flash. However, in a set visit interview via ComicBook, producer Nate Moore explained what separates the MCU’s speedster from Barry Allen.
“Some of the characters do have powers you’ve seen before. We’ve talked about Makkari’s super speed. Obviously, there’s a very famous DC character who runs very fast. So, for us, it’s how we express that visually in ways that are different. And again, we think the notion that each Eternal is powered by cosmic energy can be fun as a visual thing to play with. So, in this case, you see the cosmic energy particle surrounding her. You see sort of that leading edge of the sonic concussive blast that she can use in battle that makes her a bit different than what you’ve seen before. And again, that motif of cosmic energy that sort of encases our heroes, you’ll see in everyone else’s powers.”
It’s coincidental that the Eternals press circuit is in full swing just as the first footage from The Flash premiered at DC FanDome, so there’s going to be plenty of questions being asked about how Makkari’s skill set is established as individually distinct, when the most famous fast-paced hero in the history of comics has been dominating the headlines at the exact same time.
At least Ridoff has plenty of time to stake her claim as the genre’s premiere speed freak without having Barry follow too closely in her wake, with Eternals coming to theaters on November 5, a full year before Ezra Miller finally headlines his solo DCEU debut.