Eternals

Eternals is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Chloe Zhao, who wrote the screenplay with Patrick Burley, Ryan Firpo and Kaz Firpo. It stars an ensemble cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Leah McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridolf, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. In the film, eternal, immortal alien beings come out of hiding thousands of years later to protect Earth from their ancient adversaries, the Deviants.
In April 2018, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced that a film based on the Eternals was in development and would explore the group as ancient aliens that have inhabited all of human history. Ryan and Kaz Firpo were hired to write the screenplay, and Zhao was set to direct in September. He was given significant creative freedom to rewrite the script with particular inspiration from Terrence Malick’s films and to use more locations and natural lighting than previous MCU films. Casting began in early 2019 and Burleigh joined work on the script prior to principal photography, which took place from July 2019 to February 2020 at Pinewood Studios and on location in England and the Canary Islands.
The Eternals premiered on October 18, 2021 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and was released in the United States on November 5 as part of Phase IV of the MCU. The film grossed $402 million worldwide but underperformed due to high budget and marketing costs. It received generally mixed reviews, with praise for the visuals, cinematography, performances and score, but criticism for the screenplay and runtime.

Details

In 5000 BC, ten superpowered beings known as the Eternals—Ajak, Cersei, Icaris, Kingo, Sprite, Faustos, Makkari, Druig, Gilgamesh, and Thena—were sent to Earth by the Domo starship Arishem, a celestial. They are charged with exterminating an invasive entity known as a deviant. The last deviants were apparently killed in 1521, when the group’s views on their continuing relationship with mankind differed. For the next five hundred years, they mostly live apart, waiting for Arishem’s orders.
In the present day, Cersei and the Sprite live together in London. After Cersei’s partner Ikaris left her without explanation centuries ago, she is now in a relationship with Dane Whitman, a human who works at the Natural History Museum. When the trio is attacked by a deviant crow, Ikaris arrives and chases the creature away. The three Eternals travel to South Dakota to reunite with their leader Azak, only to find him dead. Cersei is posthumously chosen by Ajak as his successor, granting her the ability to communicate with Arishem.
Cersei learns that the Eternals’ mission is actually to prepare Earth for a new celestial emergence. Arishem explains that, over millions of years, he has been planting celestial seeds within the planet where the power of the large population allows new celestials to be born. The Deviants were sent to destroy each planet’s apex predator to ensure the development of intelligent life, but when they evolved and began preying on the planet’s native population, Arishem created the Eternals to deal with them. With the recent completion of the Blip to restore Earth’s population, [b] mankind has reached the size necessary to allow the birth of the Celestial Tiamut, which will result in the destruction of Earth.

Hoping to delay the rise, the Eternals reunite. At Druig’s residence in the Amazon rainforest, they are attacked by Deviants. They kill them all except Crow, who kills Gilgamesh before escaping. Faustos suggests that they use the Uni-Mind, a connection between all the Eternals that would give Droog enough power to put Tiamut to sleep with his mind-control powers. However, Ikaris is loyal to Arishem and refuses to help stop the uprising. He reveals that Azak wanted to stop the uprising and save humanity, so he takes him to the Deviants and allows them to kill him. Sprite joins Icaris because of his unrequited love for her when Kingo chooses to leave.
Makkari locates the site of an active volcanic eruption in the Indian Ocean, where Icaris and the Sprites try to stop them. Drug knocks out the sprite and Faustos intercepts Icaris. Crow arrives and kills Thena. The drug is unable to put Tiamat to sleep, and Cersei tries to turn her into marble instead. Ikaris breaks free of his restraints and goes to kill Cersei, but cannot do so because of his love for her. Both she and the sprite join the others in the Uni-Mind, and Cersei gains enough power to turn Tiamut into marble. Wracked with guilt, Icaris flies into the sun. Cersei uses the remaining Uni-Mind energy to transform the sprite into a human, ending her permanent childbearing state.
Thena, Druig, and Makkari head to Domo to warn other planets of the Eternals’ origins. Whitman professes his love for Cersei and is about to reveal a secret about his family history when he, Faustos, and Kingo are taken into space by Arishem. Disgusted by their betrayal, Arishem says he will save humanity if the memories of the Eternals show that humans deserve to live. He promises to return for justice and leads the trio into the Singularity.
In a mid-credits scene, Thena, Makkari, and Droog meet Eternal Eros and his assistant Pip the Troll. In a post-credits scene, an unseen person [c] questions whether Whitman is ready to direct Ebony Blade.

Cast and characters

Gemma Chan as Cersei:
An empathic Eternal with a strong connection to humanity and Earth, who can manipulate and transform matter through physical contact. Cersei has been in love with Icaris for centuries and has a strong connection with the sprite. In the present day, she is a museum curator on Earth and is dating Dan Whitman. Producer Kevin Feige said Cersei was the main character of the film. Director Chloe Zhao said she and Chan were interested in creating the kind of nuanced female superheroes they felt were rarely seen in the genre, and Zhao felt Chan imbued the character with a gentleness, compassion and vulnerability that would “invite viewers to reconsider Cersei was independent and loved to be around people,” Chan said.
Richard Madden as Icaris:
A powerful Eternal who can fly and project beams of cosmic energy from his eyes. Speaking of the relationship between Ikaris and Cersei, Madden said the fact that they have loved each other for centuries shows a “deep level of romance” between the two. They are on opposite sides of how the Eternals connect to the world, Cersei being more sympathetic to humans and Icaris more detached. The biggest struggle for Madden was showing Ikaris a “seen it all and done it all” character without getting bored. Zhao’s take on Ikaris was influenced by director Zack Snyder’s interpretation of Superman in Man of Steel (2013) which made a strong impression for its “authentic and very realistic” approach.
Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo:
An Eternal who can create cosmic energy projectiles. Lured by fame, Kingo becomes a popular Bollywood film star who blends into the world. Nanjiani wanted to combine the intelligent attitude of John McClane from the Die Hard film series with the looks of Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, characters who really enjoyed fighting.” Nanjiani, who is not a dancer, grew up watching Bollywood dance sequences and hoped to capture the same energy and joy in the film’s own. Took months of training for the sequence.
Leah McHugh as Sprite:
An Eternal who can project illusions like life. The sprite is in a permanent childish state, appearing as a young girl despite being a thousand years old. The film explores his struggle with this, including his jealousy of people who can grow old, know love and have families. He has an unrequited love for Icaris that Kingo compares to Tinker Bell for Peter Pan. Similarly, Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.’s 2006 Eternal comic book miniseries compared the Sprite to the ever-aging Peter Pan and gave them similar short, red hair, which the film also uses. The film ends with the sprite becoming human and able to grow old.
Brian Tyree as Henry Faustos: An Eternal and an intelligent weapons and technology inventor. He is the first superhero to be portrayed as gay in an MCU film.
Lauren Ridolf as McCarry:
An Eternal who can move at superhuman speeds. The character is the first deaf superhero in the MCU. After taking up running more in anticipation of roles, he shifted to building muscles to have “the symmetry of someone who looks like a sprinter”.
Barry Keoghan as Droog: An isolated Eternal who grows frustrated with the inaction of other Eternals in human affairs. He can manipulate others’ minds.
Don Lee as Gilgamesh:
Powerful Eternal, with a deep connection to Thena. Lee pursued the role as the first Korean superhero to be an inspiration to the younger generation and was able to utilize his boxing training for the role.
Kit Harington as Dan Whitman: A man who works as a professor of history at the Natural History Museum in London and is dating Cersei.
Salma Hayek in Today’s Role:
The sage and spiritual leader of the Eternals, who has the power to heal and is the “bridge” between the Eternals and the Celestials. Changing the character from a male in the comics allows Hayek to lean into Azak’s femininity and make her a “mother figure” to the Eternals. Hayek was initially hesitant to work with Marvel, assuming she would have a supporting or “grandmother” role.
Angelina Jolie as Thena:
An elite warrior Eternal who can create any weapon from cosmic energy and develops a close bond with Gilgamesh over the centuries. He also suffers from a mental condition called Mahd Wy’ry. For the role, Jolie trained in ballet with various swords, spears and staffs.
Additionally, Bill Skarsgård provides the voice of Crow, one of the Deviants, and David Kaye voices Celestial Arishem. Harish Patel appears as Karun, Kingo’s human attendant; Haj Sleiman and Esai Daniel Cross portray Faustos’ husband Ben and son Jack, respectively; And Zain Al Rafia plays a villager who crosses over into eternity when he first arrives on earth. Harry Styles appears in the mid-credits scene as Eros/Starfox, brother of the MCU character Thanos, while Patton Oswalt voices Eros’ assistant Pip the Troll. Mahershala Ali has an uncredited voice-only cameo as Blade in the post-credits scene before starring in his own film.

Box Office

The Eternals grossed $164.9 million in the United States and Canada and $237.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $402.1 million. The film grossed $162 million worldwide in its opening weekend, the second-biggest worldwide opening weekend for a Hollywood film during the COVID-19 pandemic, with IMAX contributing more than $13.6 million.

About

Directed by	Chloé Zhao
Screenplay by	·         Chloé Zhao ·         Patrick Burleigh ·         Ryan Firpo ·         Kaz Firpo
Story by	·         Ryan Firpo ·         Kaz Firpo
Based on	Eternals by Jack Kirby
Produced by	·         Kevin Feige ·         Nate Moore
Starring	·         Gemma Chan ·         Richard Madden ·         Kumail Nanjiani ·         Lia McHugh ·         Brian Tyree Henry ·         Lauren Ridloff ·         Barry Keoghan ·         Don Lee ·         Kit Harington ·         Salma Hayek ·         Angelina Jolie
Cinematography	Ben Davis
Edited by	·         Craig Wood ·         Dylan Tichenor
Music by	Ramin Djawadi
Production company	Marvel Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates	·         October 18, 2021 (Dolby Theatre) ·         November 5, 2021 (United States)
Running time	156 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$236.2 million
Box office	$402.1 million

 

ScreenShots