Marvel’s upcoming Eternals film is reportedly staying true to its comic source material in at least one aspect, in that the heroes have now been confirmed to have been created by the Celestials.
As ScreenRant learns, the production designer for the film, Eve Stewart, confirmed the existence of the Celestials in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The upcoming third film of Phase 4 of the MCU is directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao and features an ensemble cast that includes Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, and Brian Tyree Henry.
Originally created by Jack Kirby in 1976, the Eternals are one of Marvel Comics’ more obscure titles, relegated to only a few limited series over the years. So it’s interesting to hear the film is choosing to stay true to its comic origin in at least one aspect, as Marvel Studios will undoubtedly have more freedom to deviate from the source material if they want to, due to the smaller fan base.
In the comics, the Celestials are extraterrestrial cosmic beings who created the Eternals and their evil counterparts, the Deviants, through genetic experiments done on early humans.
In an interview with production designer Eve Stewart, she confirmed the Celestials’ existence, explaining that “the Celestials are gods and they’ve created the Eternals.” She went on to explain that a major through line of the film is that the Eternals’ protective presence over all living things on Earth has been reflected by humanity’s religions throughout time:
“So what we really want to do, Chloé and I, weeks and months ago, were talking about trying not to make the spaceship into anything we’ve seen before. And also because the Celestials are gods and they’ve created the Eternals, we wanted to somehow look at sacred geometry, and look at the symbolism from every religion across the world that kind of means something.”
Pre-sale tickets are available now for Eternals, which comes to theaters on November 5th, 2021.
