In just a couple of short days, Marvel Studios will make yet another exciting run through theaters all over the world with its 26th movie in Eternals. Boasting an Academy Award-winning director in Chloé Zhao with one of the biggest core casts of characters in MCU history, this movie will look to expand on Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding narrative in more ways than one.
In terms of the story, it’s one that spans over 7000 years and details moments from the Eternals’ arrival on Earth all the way to the present day in a post-Avengers: Endgame setting. Marvel’s team of immortals will deal with not only the consequences from Thanos’ universe-altering snaps with the Infinity Gauntlet, but also with the impact of the MCU’s cosmic story with the Celestials and more in play.
For all the material coming into the MCU’s overarching story plot-wise, one of Eternals‘ most prominent calling cards is the expansive cast of Hollywood A-listers that will officially become MCU stars thanks to this new outing. From Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek to Richard Madden and Kit Harrington, Marvel Studios is swinging for the fences by bringing such an impressive level of quality with its actors to play such iconic roles within the MCU’s growing journey.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is bringing 10 key characters into play with this movie, the Eternals’ roster from the comics has seen more than its fair share of names included, as has been the case with the Avengers over the years. As it turns out, Marvel Studios had originally planned for a couple of extra additions to this team in the movie that didn’t end up making the cut.
Eternals Originally Had A Bigger Lineup
In an interview with Fandom, Eternals director Chloé Zhao revealed that the original roster for the movie boasted 12 names instead of the 10 that made it into the final cut.
“There was 12 characters when I first read it; 12 Eternals. We had to let two go along the way.”
Murphy’s Multiverse then revealed that those two extra characters were meant to be Zuras and Elysius. While it’s unclear how big their roles in the movies were alongside Ikaris, Sersi, Thena and the rest of the crew, they were initially included in the pitch to Zhao before the film went into heavy development.
Zuras is a member of the Eternals that was created close to 1 million years ago in the Marvel Comics timeline, coming in as a descendent of the classic character Kronos. Additionally, in relation to prominent MCU characters, he’s often portrayed as the brother of A’lars, who is the father of the Mad Titan Thanos as seen in Avengers: Infinity War, and he’s also the father of Angelina Jolie’s Thena.
As for Elysius, she originally came in as a creation of the entity ISAAC, a sentient computer system on Thanos’ home planet Titan. She also had romantic ties to Mar-Vell in future issues and has teamed up with Drax the Destroyer on other occasions as well.
It’s still unknown whether these characters will make their way into the MCU at some point in the future. However, depending on how Eternals is received upon its theatrical release, anything is possible.
Eternals is set to debut in theaters on November 5, 2021. Do you think the other two characters will appear in upcoming installments? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below or over on social media!
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Source: Murphy’s Multiverse
