The release of Marvel Studios’ Eternals is gradually drawing closer, and fans are excited to see how the film’s long-running Marvel characters are introduced into live-action. Among the heroes being reimagined in the film is Ajak, who will be portrayed by Salma Hayek. With Ajak being the (usually, male) leader of the Eternals in the comics, there’s definitely a lot of curiosity around what Hayek’s take on the character will be — and according to the actress, it will involve a complex take on motherhood. In a recent interview with TotalFilm, Hayek revealed that her version of Ajak “can’t have kids”, but takes a motherly approach to the roster of other Eternals, one that she crafted with director Chloe Zhao.
“Chloé decided to tackle the concept of leadership from the perspective of motherhood… I’m not a mother. I’m an alien. I can’t have kids,” Hayek explained. “However, my character used to be a man in the comics, now it’s a woman. So instead of just changing the gender, I proposed to [Zhao] to really bring something that is very specific to womanhood.”
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“I need to guide them into things… we have a mission in life, in the world. A mother also needs to guide her kids,” Hayek continued. “When they misbehave, she will reprimand them, but always from the perspective of motherhood… There’s an empathy to it – although I’m not allowed to have empathy, because I’m an alien. So that makes it interesting…”
It’s unclear at this point if not being able to have children is something that only applies to Ajak, or to the entire race of Eternals. While the group were created from Celestials in the comics, they have had children in some instances, including Ikarus having a son appropriately named Icarus, who died from literally flying too close to the sun. Plus, we know that Thanos (Josh Brolin) is a member of the Eternals, so that raises questions regarding his own parentage.
In Eternals, after the return of half the population in Avengers: Endgame ignites “the emergence”, the Eternals — an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7,000 years — reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. The film will also star Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman.
Are you excited for Marvel’s Eternals? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Marvel’s Eternals is set to be released on November 5th only in theaters.
