First Trailer for Marvel's ETERNALS Teases When Gods Walked the Earth

 
It's beautiful, isn't it?

Marvel Studios has released the first trailer for Eternals, the upcoming film directed by Chloé Zhao based on the Marvel Comics team of superpowered immortals created by the legendary Jack Kirby.

The two-minute teaser trailer opens with Skeeter Davis' 1962 classic "The End of the World", taking us to a coastline far in Earth's past.  A group of primitives watch in amazement as a triangular spaceship carrying the Eternals comes into view above them.

"It's beautiful," remarks Sersi (Gemma Chan) to Ikaris (Richard Madden) as she looks down at the coastline below, "isn't it?"

We see fleeting glimpses of Thena (Angelina Jolie), Ajak (Salma Hayek), and Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) before the Eternals set foot on Earth to guide humanity and hear a voiceover from Ajak.

"We have watched...and guided," begins Ajak. "We have helped them progress, and seen them... accomplish wonders. Throughout the years, we have never interfered...until now."

Glimpses of Sersi in the present day, Sprite (Lia McHugh), Druig (Barry Keoghan), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), and Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) follow, before we see the Eternals hovering in the air, Thena preparing to fight with a stylish energy sword, and Ikaris and Sersi's eternal love for one another.

Next, we see glimpses of Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) in some sort of Bollywood-style dance sequence, Sprite singing karaoke aboard a private jet, and Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) with Sersi as ominous storm clouds gather overhead.  The Eternals then gather on the coastline for a group shot in their costumes as the Eternals logo appears.

In a final brief scene, the Eternals, in present-day clothes, are eating around a table inside a primitive home. Ikaris thanks Gilgamesh for the food and then Sprite asks the question, "So, now that Captain Rogers are both gone, who do you think's gonna lead the Avengers?"

Ikaris mulls the question over for a moment then replies, "I could lead them." Everyone else, meanwhile, looks around at each other then starts laughing.

If you'd like to check out the teaser trailer for Eternals, you can view it below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...

Eternals is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 5, 2021.

THE ETERNALS Casts Kit Harington as The Black Knight & Gemma Chan as Sersi

It seems Kit Harington's watch is eternal.

CBR has word from Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, where it was announced that actors Kit Harington, Gemma Chan and Barry Keoghan are joining the cast of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Eternals, based on the Marvel Comics characters.  They will play the characters The Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Sersi and Druig, respectively.

The three join Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh.  The full roster of the Eternals were presented at D23 along with each character's costume, which can be seen in the picture above.

The Eternals are a fictional species of humanity that resulted from an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth.  The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth, which leads to the inevitability of war against their destructive counterparts, the Deviants.

Harrington, 32, is an English actor best known as Jon Snow on the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones.  His other films include Pompeii, How to Train Your Dragon 2, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Spooks: The Greater Good, Brimstone, and Silent HIll: Revelation.

Created in 1967 by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and George Tuska, the Black Knight first appeared in The Avengers (vol.1) #47 as Dane Whitman, the original Black Knight's descendant and the supervillain Black Knight's nephew.  Whitman inherited the Ebony Blade, a mystical sword that carried a curse, and took the Black Knight name to help restore honor.  The Black Knight has been a member of various incarnations of the Avengers, as well as the Defenders, Ultraforce, Heroes for Hire, and MI: 13.

Chan, 36, is an English actress best known as Astrid in the film Crazy Rich Asians, and as Minn-Erva in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Captain Marvel.  Her other films include Mary Queen of Scots, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  Her television roles include the Doctor Who special "The Waters of Mars" as Mia Bennett, the Sherlock episode "The Blind Banker", and as Anita/Mia in the series Humans.

Created in 1963 by Jack Kirby, Sersi first appeared in Strange Tales (vol.1) #109 as a fourth generation member of the Eternals, an evolutionary offshoot of the human race.  She is the daughter of the Eternals Helios and Perse, and was probably born in Olympia, Greece, some time after the Great Cataclysm that destroyed the continents of Atlantis and Lemuria, during an extended ice age known as the Hyborean Age.  As a sorceress, Sersi first met Avengers members Captain America and Thor, then later joined the team along with the Black Knight.

The Eternals is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 6, 2020.

Marvel Announces Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

During this weekend's special 90-minute presentation in Hall H at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced Marvel Studio's plans for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel's Phase Four plans include not only five MCU feature films, but also five new MCU television shows to be released on Disney's upcoming streaming service, Disney+.  Beginning with the solo Black Widow film in May 2020, Phase Four will end with the fourth Thor film, Thor: Love and Thunder in November 2021.

Feige also made a surprise announcement at the end teasing plans for Phase Five, which will include Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Captain Marvel 2, Fantastic Four, and Blade, which will star two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.

So with these announcements, the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe schedule looks like this:

Black Widow arrives in theaters on May 1, 2020.  Directed by Cate Shortland, the movie will be a prequel to Avengers: Endgame and stars Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanov, David Harbour as Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov, and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova.  Also, Marvel supervillain Taskmaster will be the primary antagonist.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to debut on Disney+ in Fall 2020.  Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan will reprise their characters of The Falcon/Sam Wilson and The Winter Soldier/James "Bucky" Barnes, respectively, and will be set after the events of Avengers: Endgame.  In addition, Emily VanCamp and Daniel Brühl set to reprise their roles as Sharon Carter and Baron Helmut Zemo.

The Eternals arrives in theaters on November 6, 2020.  Directed by Chloé Zhao, the film stars Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, and Salma Hayek as Ajak.  

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings arrives in theaters on February 12, 2021.  Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film stars Simu Liu as martial arts superhero Shang-Chi and Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the film's villain, The Mandarin.  Awkwafina will also have a role in the film.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrives in theaters on May 7, 2021.  Directed by Scott Derrickson, the film is the sequel to Doctor Strange and will feature the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange and Benedict Wong as Wong.  In addition, the film will co-star Elizabeth Olsen, reprising her role as the Scarlet Witch, and will directly tie in with the Disney+ TV series WandaVision, making it the first direct tie-in between a MCU film and TV series.

WandaVision is scheduled to debut on Disney+ sometime in Spring 2021.  Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany will reprise their roles as the Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff and The Vision, respectively.  Teyonah Parris will appear as Monica Rambeau, who was played as a child by Akira Akbar in the film Captain Marvel.

Loki also debuts on Disney+ sometime in Spring 2021.  Tom Hiddleston will reprise his role as Loki once again, and the series will follow the version of Loki who stole the Space Stone in 2012 during the events of Avengers: Endgame.

What If...? debuts on Disney+ sometime in Summer 2021.  Based on the Marvel Comics series What If...?, this will be an animated series starring Jeffrey Wright as the voice of Uatu the Watcher.  Each episode will examine a different crucial moment in the MCU's history and explore different outcomes, with the actors from the films reprising their roles for the show.  

Hawkeye debuts on Disney+ sometime in Fall 2021.  Jeremy Renner will reprise his role as Hawkeye/Clint Barton.  Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, the series will feature Barton passing the mantle of Hawkeye to Marvel Comics character Kate Bishop.  

Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 5, 2021.  Directed by Taika Waititi, the film will feature Natalie Portman reprising her role as Jane Foster, but with her character taking on the mantle of Thor, similar to the comics.  Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are expected to reprise their roles of Thor Odinson and Valkyrie.  Valkyrie will be the first LGBTQIA+ superhero in the MCU, with the character, now King of Asgard, searching for a Queen.

Blade has not been scheduled as of yet, but will be a part of Phase Five.

Richard Madden in Talks for Ikaris in Marvel's THE ETERNALS

After the Red Wedding, Richard Madden is looking to become eternal.

Variety is reporting that Richard Madden is in talks to join Chloé Zhao's upcoming film The Eternals, based on the classic Marvel comic series created by Jack Kirby.  Madden will be playing Ikaris in the film, which also stars Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani.

The Eternals are a fictional species of humanity that resulted from an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth.  The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth, which leads to the inevitability of war against their destructive counterparts, the Deviants.

Madden, 32, is a Scottish actor best known as Robb Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones.  His films include Rocketman, Bastille Day, and Cinderella (2015), while his other television work includes episodes of Bodyguard, Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, Klondike, and Birdsong.

Created in 1976 by Jack Kirby, Ikaris first appeared in The Eternals (vol.1) #1 as the son of the Eternals Virako and Tulayn (His real birth name is unknown), born over 20,000 years ago in Polaria, in the area now known as Siberia.  As an Eternal, his abilities included superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes and durability, a regenerative healing factor, cosmic energy manipulation, flight, psionic powers, matter transmutation, and teleportation

Ikaris chose his name due to a tragic accident hundreds of years ago.  While fighting the Deviants in ancient Greece, the man eventually known as Ikaris met and married a human woman.  Together, they bore a son named Icarus, who loved to soar with his father high above the seas and mountains of Greece.  In time, the Eternal built his son a set of mechanical wings so the boy could fly on his own.  When his father disappeared while fighting the Deviants, the young Icarus sought him out using the mechanical wings.  Too inexperienced to fly on his own, young Icarus soared too high, losing consciousness in the upper atmosphere, and fell to his death.  Finding his son dead, the Eternal took the name of his son, Ikaris, in his memory.

When the Celestials arrived on Earth in the 20th century, Ikaris witnessed the arrival of the Fourth Celestial Host on Earth and then publicly revealed himself, as the other Eternals did.  During his long lifetime, Ikaris attempted to be a fair and just leader of the Eternals, but abandoned Eternal traditions to take an active and public role in protecting the human race.   The Eternals helped a number of Earth's heroes, particularly the Avengers, against several menaces.

Years later, The Eternals were the victims of memory and reality manipulation by former Eternal Sprite, and forgot their true identities.  Although Ikaris (calling himself Ike Harris) was captured and atomized by the Deviants Gelt and Morjak, his body reappeared at the bottom of the Antarctic city of Olympia.  With his body and powers fully restored by the sentient city, Ikaris regained his memories and set out to awaken his fellow Eternals to their true identities.  After a prolonged battle, he at last united the few Eternals present, then planned to team up with Makkari and reawaken the ninety other Eternals.

Marvel Studios Taps Chloé Zhao to Direct THE ETERNALS

Waiting for this movie will feel eternal.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that Marvel Studios has chosen Chloé Zhao as director for The Eternals, based on the classic Marvel comic series created by Jack Kirby.

According to the article, the search narrowed in the last few weeks, with a shortlist consisting of Watchmen TV pilot director Nicole Kassell, Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings), along with Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Birds of Passage).  Zhao "was already well known to Marvel as she went down the road with the company on Black Widow, the standalone featuring Scarlett Johansson's spy heroine.  That gig ultimately went to Cate Shortland."

In addition, the article states the film will include "the love story between Ikaris, a man fueled by cosmic energy, and Sersi, who relishes moving amongst humans."

Zhao, 36, is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and producer who directed the acclaimed independent films The Rider and Songs My Brothers Taught Me.

Created in 1976 by Jack Kirby, the Eternals first appeared in The Eternals (vol.1) #1 as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth.  When the Celestials visited Earth five million years ago and performed genetic experiments on early proto-humanity, they created two divergent races: the long-lived Eternals, and the genetically unstable and monstrously grotesque Deviants.  These experiments also led to the capacity for super-powered mutations in humans.  They also performed this experiment on other planets (such as the Kree and Skrull homeworlds) with similar results.

Eternals can be killed if their molecules are dispersed over a large enough area and there are few Eternals due to their low birth rate.  Even though Eternals and humans are capable of having children together when they mate, when a child is born of such a union the baby will always be human.  Eternals have sworn to protect humans from their cousins, the Deviants, and also have higher technology than the human race.  

The Eternals faced a civil war over if they should conquer other races.  One side was led by Kronos, who said they shouldn't, while the other was lead by Uranos.  Kronos' side won, causing Uranos to leave Earth and travel to Uranus, where he and the rest built a civilization.  Uranos and his group built a spaceship and attempted to return to Earth to start another war, but they were attacked by a Kree ship.  The survivors among Uranos' group were forced to land on Titan, Saturn's moon, giving rise to an Eternal civilization there.  The Kree captured one of the Eternals and did experiments on him, which led the Kree to go to Earth and experiment on humans.  This led to another offshoot of humanity, the Inhumans, that were powerful but not on the Eternals' level.

When the Celestials returned to judge the worthiness of their creations, the Eternals found themselves clashing with the Deviants again, and decided to publicly reveal their existence to humanity.  Kronos' son Zuras feared what would happen if the Celestials judged unfavorably.  They encountered the Asgardian god Thor, and were attacked by Thor's father Odin and the Olympian gods, who tried to prevent their interfering with the gods' plans to attack the Celestials.  Eventually, the Eternals decided to help the gods and formed a Uni-Mind to assist the assault on the Celestials.  They were forced to dissolve back into Eternals by the Celestials, and the shock of the attack killed Zuras.  Before his spirit fully left the material plane, he instructed his daughter Thena to take his people to explore space.  Most of the Eternals did so in the form of a Uni-Mind, but a handful – those most heavily involved in Earthly affairs – remained behind on Earth.  Since then, the Eternals have helped Earth's heroes, particularly the Avengers, against several menaces.