Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’ Will Take Place Over Thousands of Years
Marvel’s next team-based franchise, The Eternals, is set to cover new ground within the Marvel Cinematic Universe – mainly, by spanning thousands of years and covering the previously-unexplored history of Earth-199999, and how the predecessors to all superheroes on Earth tie in with it.
In an interview with Collider, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige explained that Marvel Studios going forward is going to take the mega-franchise in several bold new directions, and toward the end of his statement, he suggests that The Eternals is going to end up covering a very long period of history within the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
“Everything after Endgame, and after Spider-Man: Far From Home, will be different and be unique, as we try to make every film. But seeing returning characters is certainly something we’re gonna do and want to do. But also introducing characters that the majority of the world has never heard of, much like Guardians, much like Avengers before we made Avengers. And there are lots of them. Eternals are one group, but we like the idea of introducing an ensemble, doing an ensemble movie from the start, as opposed to building up as we did with the first Avengers. More like Guardians, not tonally, but in terms of introducing a new group of people… Jack Kirby did an immense, amazing epic with Eternals that spans tens of thousands of years, and that’s also something we haven’t really done, which is why that among many other things post-Endgame, we find appealing.“
The Eternals itself is based on a pretty unknown Marvel property, in spite of that franchise being associated with a number of characters who regularly appear in the pages of Marvel Comics, like Hercules, Sersi, Starfox, and even Thanos. As such, it’s one of the riskier properties that Marvel Studios could tackle – but also one that could help greatly expand the setting. With Disney’s looming acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets, the film could serve as the ideal way to plant the seeds for a rebooted X-Men franchise into the setting, given that the Celestials (gigantic, all-powerful cosmic beings that created the Eternals themselves) also created the Mutant subspecies. Being able to build upon the likes of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises will just be an added bonus for Marvel.
The Eternals is currently in development at Marvel Studios and is currently without a release date. Production is expected to begin late into the Summer of this year.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
