The Eternals: What Are Celestials?

Over the past five years or so, the Celestials have been teased in a few separate instances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While we’ve seen them briefly in both Guardians of the Galaxy films, we haven’t gotten an in-depth origin story or explanation on who they are or what they’ve done. Now the first look of The Eternals has surfaced, it’s given us a pretty good look at a few of the Celestials that will show up next November and it’s pretty evident they’ll be a major part of the film.

But who are they? Much like The Eternals themselves, the legendary Jack Kirby dreamt up the ancient alien race, deciding to first introduce them within the pages of The Eternals #1 (1976) and ever since, the group has long had a relationship with the namesake group. In fact, the Eternals — and their archenemies in the Deviants — were both created by Celestials in an act of playing god and manipulating the human race millennia ago.

Weighing an average of 260 tons, these beings end up towering around 2,000 tall. Conveniently enough, they’re all telepathically linked to one another, allowing them to appear completely silent without ever having to speak with any other Marvel characters. Most Celestials have essentially been around since the dawn of time and oftentimes act as the creators — and destroyers — of planets. For a more mainstream reference, think Galactus on steroids.

In Guardians of the Galaxy, we very briefly saw Eson the Searcher using the Power Stone to raze a civilization while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 retconned Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell) into a member of the race. Other than that, the entirey of the Celestials story on-screen has yet to be shown.

The Eternals is being directed by Chloe Zhao from a script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo. The film will star Richard Madden (Ikaris), Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo), Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Salma Hayek (Ajak), Lia McHugh (Sprite), Don Lee (Gilgamesh), and Angelina Jolie as Thena.

The Eternals is set for release on November 6, 2020. Other upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.

Which Phase 4 property are you looking forward to most? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!