Warning: this story contains details about Marvel’s Eternals, now playing in theaters. There are new superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No, not just the team of immortal cosmic beings regrouped by the superhuman Sersi (Gemma Chan) after centuries apart — it’s DC Comics characters Batman and Superman, referenced for the first time in the Marvel Studios movie universe. Marvel moviegoers experiencing Eternals on opening weekend are surprised to see the god-like Ikaris (Richard Madden) — capable of flight and blasting beams from his eyes — openly compared to the Man of Steel. Yes, Superman exists in this universe as he does in our own: in the pages of DC Comics.
“Dad, that’s Superman!” exclaims Jack (Esai Daniel Cross), the son of Ben (Haaz Sleiman) and his Eternal husband Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), when meeting Ikaris. “With the cape, and you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes!”
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Acknowledging the red-and-blue-suited Superman, the 7,000-year-old Ikaris quips: “I don’t wear a cape.”
When the cosmic-powered Bollywood star Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) introduces his assistant and old friend Karun (Harish Patel) to his much older friends, the Eternals say he’s “like Alfred,” Batman’s butler.
“I take some responsibility for that. I think we’re in the business of telling stories about mythology, and Superman, for example, comes from origin of mythology. In many different cultures, there’s a form of Superman,” first-time MCU director Chloe Zhao exclusively told ComicBook about the DC references in Eternals. “And the people that created Superman and the brilliant filmmakers [who] brought Superman to screen, their movies are basically, in my opinion, doing a modern interpretation of that mythology.”
That includes Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics creation Ikaris, who is “is our interpretation of that mythology.”
“It doesn’t mean we can’t pay tribute and have a good time with these iconic ones that we all love to so much,” Zhao said. “I mean, who doesn’t love Superman and Batman? Clearly, our Eternals like them.”
See below what Marvel moviegoers are saying about the Batman and Superman mentions in Eternals, now playing only in theaters:
From @Faith_And_Geek
From @THEJordonBrown
From @CheesecakeJones
From @KenPenders
From @angelsxnset
From @rpxadair
From @hollywoodgirl05
From @Mantia
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Credit: DC Studios
