So much focus has been placed on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its immediate future – think Avengers 4 and Spider-Man: Far From Home – that not many people have stopped to think about the MCU of yesteryear.
And we’re not referring to Captain America: The First Avenger, nor are we speaking about 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 already in the works, after Marvel Studios brought Matthew and Ryan Firpo on board to hash out a script. It’s still early days, mind you, but now the project has taken yet another big step forward, with Variety reporting that Chloe Zhao has been selected to direct the film, after she found herself earning much acclaim for Sundance darling The Rider.
Of course, plot details and the like still remain tightly under wraps, but after seeing Infinity War, it’s not too difficult to figure out how the Eternals may fit into the wider MCU. I mean, aside from the inclusion of Titan, Thanos’ homeworld which was home to one race of Eternals, the movie also name-checks an important member of the species from the comic books.
If you’ll recall, when the Mad Titan meets Red Skull on Vormir, as he searches for the Soul Stone, the fan favorite villain immediately identifies him as “Son of A’Lars.” A’Lars, for those who don’t know, is Thanos’ father in the source material. More commonly known as Mentor, he’s also the founder of the Eternals colony on Titan.
Of course, there’s nothing to say that Josh Brolin’s character would even show up in Marvel’s Eternals movie, but the seeds have clearly been planted and with two writers and a director all now on board, we imagine we’ll be hearing more on the project in no time at all.