Eternals Writers Speak Out on Balancing Druig’s Villainous Nature

Marvel Studios’ Eternals movie changed quite a bit about a few of the ancient beings when bringing them from comics to the screen. Some of them look a little different, some have slightly different powers, and a couple of key Eternals fall on different sides of the fight between good and evil. Take Barry Keoghan’s Druig, for example. In the comics, Druig is often depicted as a villainous member of the Eternals. The version in the MCU isn’t without his faults, but he’s depicted as more of a hero that sometimes walks the line between right and wrong. 

Druig has the power to look inside and control the minds of human beings. He uses this ability to his advantage quite often, but it also helps him understand and love humans on a much deeper level than the rest of the Eternals. That ultimately put him on the right side of the battle. While speaking to The Direct, Eternals co-writer Ryan Firpo opened up about finding a balance with Druig, and why the creative team saw him more as a tragic hero.

“Obviously, the Eternals are grappling with their faith in humanity over these thousands of years that they’ve been keeping watch. So when it comes to the ultimate debate, the group falls on one of two sides of that debate, and with Druig in particular, if you think about his power, he spends so much time inside of humans’ minds,” Firpo explained. “So he’s [basically going to] understand them on a level that’s deeper than a lot of the other Eternals, who just cannot achieve that perspective.”

The writer continued, “And so I think that makes Druig a verytragic figure, because he both loves humanity and he appreciates all their potential, but he also sees the dangers, and the downfalls of human nature, and witnesses those firsthand, and so he really feels humanity on a level that other people don’t.”

When Druig does control the minds of human beings, he isn’t doing it to try and achieve any personal gain. It may be wrong, but he’s attempting to keep them safe and help them survive.

“So his desire to control humanity doesn’t come from a [megalomaniacal] place, he’s not doing it for a sense of power, he’s doing it from a place of love,” Firpo added. “I think that’s why you get that balance where what he’s doing is technically not very kosher, but he’s not doing it just to control these people and make them into slaves, he’s doing it to protect them. So I think that’s where you get that balance.”

What did you think of Barry Keoghan’s portrayal of Druig in Eternals? Let us know in the comments!