After a brief period in 2020 when the world became MCU-less, Disney is back to throwing Marvel movies and TV series at us at such a breakneck pace that the Multiverse itself is collapsing. WandaVision introduced deadly black magic to the franchise, Loki changed time itself, and then Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actually started off Phase Four of the MCU, which will become truly wacky in December’s multiverse-smashing Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. Everything you need to know about Eternals is right here, from its release date to who’s who in the massive ensemble, the (presumably) name of the villain, and the film’s centuries-spanning plotline.
Trailer
The first official teaser trailer for Eternals was released in May of 2021, giving us a strong feel of the film’s enormous grandeur and Zhao’s beautiful photography but no actual notion of the narrative. Take a look at it above.
There was a lot going on, and it was in the middle of it all is Eternals, which is about as dangerous as the MCU will ever get at this point. Even without the Multiverse of Madness whirling around this one, Oscar winner Chloe Zhao’s film is a lot to take in, with a big band cast, a cosmic storyline stretching hundreds of years, and people who aren’t exactly “well-known.”
What’s the release date?
Eternals was supposed to be released in November 2020, but it was pushed back to February 2021 due to the COVID epidemic, as did virtually all of its blockbuster competitors. The second shuffling of Eternals’ release date set it on November 5, 2021, which it appears to be sticking with. Disney said in September that Eternals will be released exclusively in theatres, thereby ending Black Widow’s day-and-date Disney+ Premiere Access plan (resulting in quite the legal hullabaloo).
Casting Members
Gemma Chan plays Sersi, Richard Madden plays Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani plays Kingo, Angelina Jolie plays Thena, Salma Hayek plays Ajak, Brian Tyree Henry plays Phastos, Barry Keoghan plays Druig, Don Lee plays Gilgamesh, Laren Ridloff plays Makkari, and Lia Wong plays Makkari. Kit Harington portrays Dane Whitman in non-Eternal roles, while Dan Stevens is thought (read: basically confirmed) to be the villain.
Plotline
The sudden return of half of all life in the galaxy in Avengers: Endgame prompted something ominous known as “The Emergence,” an event serious enough even for Ajax to reunite all the Eternals on Earth, according the trailers. Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, and Ryan Firpo co-wrote the story, which Feige describes as “a tremendously bold and incredibly large, sweeping 7,000-year epic of mankind and our role in the cosmos.” Aside from that, we currently even have the film’s official synopsis:
“Eternals” by Marvel Studios introduces an intriguing new squad of Super Heroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The amazing story spans millennia and depicts a band of immortal warriors pulled from the abyss to battle humanity’s oldest foe, The Deviants.”
