Eternals Director Has Surprising Answer When Asked If They Were Snapped in Avengers: Infinity War

No matter how long the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues, Thanos’ Snap will always remain one of the franchise’s most pivotal events. Half of all life was removed from the universe, all at once, only to suddenly return five years later when Tony Stark reversed the Snap. This event effected everything and everyone in the MCU, so when new characters enter the fold, the topic of how the Blip affected them will always come up. The Eternals are no exception.

The first trailer for Eternals revealed that the ancient race of beings purposefully sat out of the conflict with Thanos in order to follow the instructions of the Celestials. What we didn’t know, however, is whether or not any Eternals were actually snapped away or not. The movie didn’t offer an answer, but director Chloe Zhao has. WARNING: Eternals spoilers below!

According to Zhao, the Eternals couldn’t be snapped away because the Snap only eliminated half of all life. While the Eternals have long thought themselves members of an ancient race from the planet Olympia, one of the twists of the film revealed that they were actually created by the Celestials for the sole purpose of growing natural populations on various planets. They’re not considered living beings at all.

“Well, I can’t say this out loud, but if you think about what the Celestials told them. If you think about what the Celestials told them about themselves, technically they can’t get blipped,” Zhao told CinemaBlend in a recent interview.

The Eternals are essentially androids. They have blood like humans, and their insides aren’t filled with machinery, but they were designed and built from the ground up. This explains why they never age. 

There’s an entire conversation to be had about what being “alive’ really means, and all of the Eternals would probably consider themselves to be living beings. From a biological point of view, however, they aren’t alive in the same way that Star-Lord or Scarlet Witch were when they were snapped. So when half the universe was removed from existence, all 10 of the Eternals remained on Earth, watching as humankind attempted to pick up the pieces and continue on with life. 

Thanos likely didn’t account for the Eternals when choosing to balance the universe, and he’s lucky they had already decided not to interfere. 10 immensely powerful beings could’ve really put a damper on his plans.