Marvel’s The Eternals: What Are The Deviants?

In a matter of months, fans will be introduced to yet another corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe untouched in the past decade. Chloé Zhao’sThe Eternals will bring a whole new franchise to fans of the MCU, one that spans across thousands of the years, to the earliest days of the civilization. Along with the titular group of heroes, the movie is also set to feature the Deviants, a villainous clan of characters that have long served as opponents to the Eternals.

But who are the Deviants, exactly? What’s their purpose in the story? Think of them as the one true adversary of the ancient Eternal heroes. In comparison, you’ve got Batman versus the Joker, Spider-Man versus the Sinister Six, the X-Men versus Magneto. Then you’ve got the Eternals versus the Deviants.

The group first appeared alongside their counterparts in Jack Kirby’s The Eternals #1, all the way back in July 1976. Essentially, think of them as a sort of reject Eternal. Both the Deviants and Eternals were created by ancient Celestials in hopes of perfecting organic life, something that would serve as the moment both offshoots were granted their powers. While some might view Eternals as the epitome of human life, the experiments oftentimes left the Deviants horribly disfigured with mutations. That said, most Deviants ended up retaining some of the same powers as members of the Eternals, allowing the groups to become formidable opponents.

The thing is, Celestials just didn’t do their experimentations on Earth, they did all across the universe, meaning there are likely Deviants in all shapes and sizes of alien races, which have been allowed to produced offspring for generations. It’s because of this traveling and tinkering that gave Thanos his appearance; in the comics, the Mad Titan is a genetic combination of Eternal and Deviant, although it’s unclear if he has the same origin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Unlike characters like Ikaris and Sersi, who have become relatively hefty names within the Marvel universe, the Deviants don’t entirely have go-to characters that carry the weight of their brand. Outside of the previously mentioned Thanos, other big characters in the Deviant world would be the likes of Kro or the Deviant/Inhuman hybrid Maelstrom.

The Eternals enters theaters November 6th.

What surprises are you hoping to see in the upcoming movie from Marvel Studios? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt!