Eternals Sets Up Secret Conflict With the “Gods” Watching Over the Marvel Universe

Despite having been a part of the world inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the dawn of man, the Eternals have chosen to keep themselves isolated from the affairs of mankind. That all changes when Eternals hits theaters later this year, as a threat so large arrives it forces Ikaris (Richard Madden), Sersi (Gemma Chan), and the rest of the immortal crew to come out of hiding. As with every other Marvel movie in active development, exact plot details for Eternals remain under wraps.

A new Marvel Studios sneak peek in Total Film, however, teases the main conflict between the Eternals and Deviants as the gods of the MCU standby and watch. “Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, the plot is still very much under wraps, beyond that the Eternals must defend Earth from the Deviants, a rival ancient race.”

The Deviants, of course, served as the nemeses of the movie’s group. Both groups were created by Celestials to watch over Earth, though the Deviants ended up being an off-branch due to their monster-like appearances. Either way, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao has also said the franchise’s massive opportunities for world-building is what initially drew her to the property in the first place.

“I love building a world and then you put people in that world and they create chemistry with each other that you just can never predict, and you have to roll with the punches a little bit once you see that chemistry. It’s exciting for me,” Zhao tells the magazine.

“Jack Kirby and his imagination, his incredible work, is really the foundation of it. On top of that, there is what Marvel Studios has built, this incredible journey they have going on. And then on top of that is me as a fan of the MCU,” the filmmaker previously said in a separate interview.

She added, “And then, me as a fan of the genre, but also growing up with sci-fi and manga and fantasy films. And how can we have this big melting pot and cook up something that may just taste a little bit different? It was just an exciting thing; all of us went in wanting to do that. We’ll see.”

Eternals is currently set for release on November 5th.

What’d you think of the first look at Chloe Zhao’s Eternals? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!