Marvel’s ‘Eternals’: Angelina Jolie Reportedly Confirmed to Play Sersei

Even as Marvel Cinematic Universe fans eagerly await the release of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios is quietly organizing itself for the imminent rollout of “Phase IV” of the MCU, which will begin this summer with Spider-Man: Far From Home. One project on the upcoming MCU slate that has appeared out of left field is The Eternals, a film about a secret race of superpowered beings created by the Celestials to have exceptionally long lives.

Eternals has been dropping some casting news and character hints for the last few weeks, with the biggest being the announcement that Angelina Jolie will be starring in the film. There’s been a lot of speculation about who Jolies mystery MCU character would turn out to be – and now it seems we have confirmation that she is indeed playing the role of Sersi!

THR dropped the exclusive that the Big Sick star Kumail Nanjiani is joining The Eternals, and buried in that report was this little mention:

“Jolie is understood to be playing the character named Sersi, a more outgoing Eternal who has not been afraid to movie amongst humankind.”

For those unfamiliar, Sersi is an Eternal of the fourth generation (that confusing lineage is a whole other story). She was born in Olympia, Greece, in the ancient world of Earth after the fall of Atlantis and Lemuria. She is distinct from her fellow Eternals since she actually enjoys being around humanity. She eventually leaves the hidden city of The Eternals and goes to live amongst mankind.

Marvel Comics has since used Sersi’s virtually-immortal lifetime as a vehicle for having the character be tied to key points in history, such as the inspiration for part of Homer’s “The Odyssey”; sealing the evil demons trapped in Pandora’s Box; key incidents in Rome, Camelot and other such historical periods tied to both human development and the Marvel superheroes. In the modern age, Sersi has joined The Avengers, and eventually fell in love with Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. She would also go through a major period where her mind and powers were dangerously unstable, making her a threat to the team as much as an asset. She would ultimately kill herself along with rest of the Eternals, upon learning from the arrival of the Dark Celestials that The Eternals were not created to be humanity’s protectors, but instead the Celestials tool for harvesting humanity’s genetic potential.

In addition to the enhanced strength, reflexes, flight, intelligence and durability of an Eternal, Sersi has cultivated the power of transmutation, able to rearrange the molecular structures better than any other Eternal before her. She’s often masked this power as sorcerery or illusion casting (depending on the era), but her power is virtually limitless.

Jolie as Sersi, a powerful woman who is wise from centuries of lifetimes lived amongst humanity sounds pretty spot-on for the actress. No doubt die-hard Marvel fans are also curious to see if Jolie’s Sersi would also some with the character’s signature talent for dance, perfect over centuries of practice.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video, and Captain Marvel is now in theaters. Avengers: Endgame arrives on April 26th, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

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