Eternals Character Guide: Every Hero and Villain Power Explanation of Marvel Phase 4 Heroes

After a year of waiting due to the situation we experienced, Eternals is finally on our screens to inaugurate a new chapter of the cosmic vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the protagonists were sent to Earth by the Celestials to defend our planet from Deviants and have lived among us for thousands of years). Directed by Chloé Zhao, the twenty-sixth film in the franchise is the one with the least known source even to hard and pure fans, as the Eternals, created by Jack Kirby in 1976, have never had great editorial success as a group (but characters individuals belonging to the same race, such as Thanos, have become an integral part of the Marvel world). Therefore, on the occasion of the release, we wanted to draw up this guide to the main characters of the feature film, without spoilers but with a possible comparison between the paper version and the film version.

Eternals Character Guide

SERSI

Played by Gemma Chan. Most fond of humans among all members of the group, she is able to manipulate inorganic matter (in the comics she has additional powers that have been removed for the film, a strategy also adopted for the other Eternals so that they have no common abilities on the screen). In the present she is the curator of a museum in London and has a relationship with Dane Whitman, after having long been the partner of Ikaris. It is the inspiration, in the Marvel universe, for the mythological figure of Circe (or the sorceress herself, depending on the continuity taken into consideration). It is the second role in the MCU for Chan, who has already been the warrior Kree Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel.

IKARIS

Portrayed by Richard Madden. Able to fly and shoot cosmic rays from his eyes, he is one of the most powerful Eternals, usually the right arm of leader Ajak (in the film version). He has been Sersi’s companion for several millennia, only to abandon her for unknown reasons before coming back to life on the occasion of the return of the Deviants, who mysteriously reappeared after the events of Avengers: Endgame . As the name suggests, it is the inspiration of the myth of Icarus, with an additional tragic connotation in the paper version: in the comics his real name is Daedalus, and he changed it in honor of his son, who died in the same circumstances as the Greek Icarus.

KINGO

Portrayed by Kumail Nanjiani. The most hedonistic of the Eternals, in the present he leads a life as a star, having become a Bollywood star (in comics he does the same thing, but in Japan). He is capable of firing energy beams from his fingers and is therefore usually in tandem with Ikaris against the more resilient Deviants. This separates it from the paper version, which has all the basic powers of the Eternals but prefers not to use them, choosing instead to fight exclusively with the techniques of the samurai, using a special sword that can cut anything.

PHASTOS

Portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry. Inspirer of the Greek myth of Hephaestus, he is the Eternal with a predisposition for technology. He is used to creating the tools used by his fellow men, and in the film he gives mankind the first push to advance on the evolutionary plane. In the present he has started a family and is no longer in contact with the other Eternals after the initial disbandment of the group. He is the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the scenes where she interacts with her husband have resulted in a ban on minors under 18 in Russia, where homosexuality is not tolerated.

SPRITE

Played by Lia McHugh. She is the most cynical of the group, partly because she is most affected by the consequences of the immortality of the Eternals: she is forced to change identities more often than others because she is physically not an adult. In the comics, where most of the time he has male features, he has a narrative arc similar to that of Kingo, given that in the 2006 miniseries that reinvented the characters he is the star of a sitcom. She is able to create illusions, and in the present she lives in London with Sersi, as her physical appearance makes her unable to be alone in the world of humans.

GILGAMESH

Played by Don Lee (Korean actor making his debut in a Hollywood production). Physically he is the strongest of the Eternals (the paper version is able to give Thor and Hercules a hard time), and is able to create a kind of energy glove that amplifies the power of his fists. In the comics he has had various names throughout the history of humanity, depending on the cultures with which he interacts, while in the film he is the one who inspires the eponymous character from Mesopotamian mythology. In the film version he has a strong connection with the character of Thena.

AJAK

Portrayed by Salma Hayek. Leader of the Eternals shown in the film (in place of Zuras, excluded because he is similar to the Greek god Zeus who will appear in Thor: Love and Thunder ), she is equipped with a regenerating factor that allows her to heal quickly from any wound, and can also use it for treat others. It also acts as a direct contact with the Celestials, via a cosmic object given to her at the start of the Earth mission. In the comics the character is male, and together with his brother Arex he gave life to the Greek myth of the two warriors named Ajax.

THENA

Played by Angelina Jolie. Source of inspiration for the myth of Athena, it is able to transform cosmic energy into weapons, and is therefore one of the most important presences on the battlefield. In the film, she has a strong bond with Gilgamesh, who takes care of her when she temporarily feels the adverse effects of the Eternals’ longevity. In the comics he had an affair with Kro, the general of the Deviants, who is the main antagonist on screen.

MAKKARI

Portrayed by Lauren Ridloff. Endowed with superhuman speed, she is at the origin of the Latin myth of Mercury and is usually taken little seriously by the rest of the team. In the comics she has male features and had a relationship with Sersi, while at the cinema it was decided to make her a woman, suffering from deafness like her interpreter. She is the first hearing-impaired superhero in the franchise.

DRUIG

Portrayed by Barry Keoghan. Cousin of Ikaris, he is capable of manipulating the minds of others, a power he used for nefarious purposes in comics, where he was a KGB agent with a real passion for torture. In the film, he is the team member most in conflict with the others, as he is not allowed to use his superhuman abilities to interfere in the conflicts of the Grounders.

DANE WHITMAN

Portrayed by Kit Harington. Companion of Sersi in the present, he is initially unaware of her true nature. In the comics Whitman is himself a superhero, to be exact the Black Knight, equipped with various mystical weapons, and in that capacity he has been a member of teams such as the Avengers and Excalibur, a faction of the X-Men based in the United Kingdom. Harington has already confirmed that Whitman should have a more substantial role in future films, as he was told by Marvel at the time of casting.

ARISHEM

Voiced in the original by David Kaye. He is one of the Celestials, cosmic entities that have existed since the beginning of the universe and that have already appeared in the cinema in films dedicated to the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the comics Arishem is known as the Judge, and it is he who decides whether the inhabitants of a single planet deserve to live or not. In the film, he is the one who entrusts the Eternals with the task of protecting the Earth from Deviants, and sporadically contacts Ajak over the millennia to update the team on when they can return home.

KRO

Portrayed by Bill Skarsgård. He is the leader of the Deviants who arrived on Earth after Thanos died, and the Eternals have seven days to stop him before his armies destroy the planet. Unlike the other Deviants, who have a monstrous disposition, he is gifted with a modicum of intelligence and can also speak, as seen in the trailer when he confronts Thena (who has been his mistress in the comics).