So much attention has been paid to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its immediate future – think Avengers 4 and Spider-Man: Far From Home – that few have stopped to wonder about the MCU of yesteryear.
And we’re not talking about Captain America: The First Avenger, nor are we referring to the ’90s nostalgia underpinning Captain Marvel; rather, we draw your attention to The Eternals, an ancient race of superpowered aliens that predates the current MCU by a couple of million years.
A live-action movie is reportedly in the works, too, after Marvel Studios tapped Matthew and Ryan Firpo to hash out a script. It’s still early days, mind you, but when Screen Rant caught up with Kevin Feige to discuss Ant-Man and the Wasp, the MCU boss took a moment to address The Eternals, and its potential to deep dive into the MCU of old.
Well, one of the cool things about that property and what Jack Kirby did with it and what’s been done with it in recent years is it does tie into they’re called Eternals, they’ve been around for a long time. You know? There’s this notion of all of these myths and legends that we know from ancient times, were they inspired by the Eternals? Were they Eternals? It’s a very … you know, it’s an ancient aliens kind of sci-fi trope that we think would be fun to explore someday.
Initially hatched by the legendary Jack Kirby back in 1976, The Eternals saga began millions of years ago when great cosmic beings called Celestials genetically experimented on humans, creating near-immortal beings, along with a much more sinister offshoot known as the Deviants.
It’s a far cry from The Inhumans, too, as The Eternals sprung to life right around the dawn of humanity, when they were bestowed with god-like strength, flight and as we mentioned above, near-immortality.
Thanos is one such character, and considering Josh Brolin is down to reprise as the Mad Titan beyond 2019, it’s looking increasingly likely that Infinity War was just the start.