Marvel’s Eternals Teases a Villain Much Worse Than Thanos

The name Thanos strikes fear across the Marvel Universe, which makes his newest promotion to leader of the Eternals all the more terrifying. The Mad Titan is part of the Eternals race, though he was seen as an outcast early on in his childhood. Eternals have fought alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against Thanos on many occasions, but he always comes back for more. Thanos was recently elected as the leader of the Eternals in a controversial (and rigged) vote, but he isn’t even the most feared leader of the immortal superbeings in their long history.

Marvel’s February 2022 solicitations reveal Eternals: The Undying #1, a one-shot from writer Kieron Gillen and artist Ryan Bodenheim. It picks up on events from Gillen’s Eternals run where Thanos is now their new leader. However, the solicitation text teases the reintroduction of someone even more horrific than the Mad Titan. “Thanos is evil, yes, but who was the original evil from whom all Eternal evils descend?” the solicitation asks. It then directs readers to meet Uranos, the Undying, who used to hold a leadership position in the Eternals ages ago. 

ETERNALS: THE UNDYING #1 

KIERON GILLEN (W) • RYAN BODENHEIM (A) • Cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO 

Variant Cover by Phil Noto 

Thanos is now ruler of the Eternals! But believe it or not…he’s actually not the worst leader that the Eternals’ society has ever seen. No, that honor belongs to someone even more horrific. Thanos is evil, yes, but who was the original evil from whom all Eternal evils descend? Meet Uranos, the Undying. And may the Celestials have mercy on your souls. 

32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/RATED T+ …$3.99

Whereas Uranos’ brother Kronos believed in their mission given to them by the Celestials to watch over humanity, Uranos felt humanity should be ruled by the Eternals. Uranos would be unsuccessful in his overthrow bid, and was exiled for his troubles. He’s still exiled when Eternals relaunched, though he will be making a comeback in February.

“For a second, try and have sympathy with Thanos. He was born on Titan, to a family which he loathes and has nothing in common with,” Gillen told ComicBook.com when the one-shot was first announced. “In our run, he arrives on Earth, and meets the rest of his extended family… and discovers that it’s the same thing, all over again. He has nothing in common with any of these people. How depressing for Thanos. And then he discovers… Uranos the Undying, Omnigenocidal Great Uncle, the rotting monstrous tree which Thanos’ apple barely fell from, proof that perhaps this capacity of horror does skip a generation. So it’s a happy ending for Thanos, really. Unhappy for everyone else, admittedly, but you can’t have everything. This is a story about some of the darkest periods in the Eternals saga, as two of the worst people in the Marvel Universe get to know each other. Less Meet Cute, more Meet Execute.”

Do you think Uranos really has what it takes to be worse than Thanos? Let us know down in the comments!