Marvel Studios has released a new trailer for Eternals, the upcoming film headed into theaters later this year. Marvel’s Eternals takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame The film will involve both the Celestials and the Deviants, both parts of Jack Kirby’s wider cosmic mythology. In the comics, the Celestials created the Eternals as an evolutionary offshoot of humanity. The Celestials intended them to be the protectors of the Earth. The Deviants, another evolutionary branch, instead seeks to wipe out humanity. In the film, a tragic event forces the Eternals out of the shadows and into the public eye to face the Deviants.
Director Chloé Zhao helms the Marvel Studios film adaptation. Zhao also wrote the screenplay,
“Throughout the years we have never interfered, until now.”
Watch the brand new teaser trailer for Marvel Studios’ #Eternals, and experience it in theaters this November. pic.twitter.com/KB7GpFIpMO
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) May 24, 2021
The Eternals cast includes Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Gemma Chan as Sersi, and Barry Keoghan as Druig. Kit Harrington also stars as Dane Whitman, a human who possesses a magic sword that transforms him into the Black Knight.
Zhao is hot off the success of her Academy Award-winning film Nomadland. In a previous interview, Zhao revealed how accommodating Marvel Studios has been to her vision.
“I think that Marvel has been so incredible, that Kevin and Nate and the whole team, they knew from the moment I pitched the film, I really wanted to [have] the scope and scale, and, at the same time, the intimacy,” she told Margaret Gardiner on YouTube. “They knew I wanted both, and they have been so incredible holding my hand through the entire process of allowing me to go as far as possible and as small as possible, and how that fit into the whole MCU. It’s been a pretty incredible process. You have to wait and see.”
In a discussion with director Barry Jenkins for Variety, Zhao revealed how eager she was to work with Marvel Studios. “I have been a fan of the MCU for the last decade. So, I put the word out there I wanted to make a Marvel movie, and the right project came to me,” Zhao said. “I just wanted to work with that team. Again, back to world-building. It is my favorite thing. That’s why I love Star Wars. There is a world that is so rich. I wanted to enter it and see what I can do. It’s the same as what you’re saying. Can I put a spin on it while still being true to the essence of it? That’s exciting to me. It’s not that different than me going to the world of rodeo cowboys and saying, ‘My spin on that is going to be this,’ and it’s a collaboration. The chemistry of that, when it’s right, it could be very exciting.”
Eternals opens in theaters on November 5th.