Eternals has now hit theaters worldwide, and with it comes a new family of heroes. While critics haven't been easy on the movie, fans have been far more welcoming of Marvel Studios' new cosmic epic.
The film introduces the Eternals, a race of god-like immortal beings who were assigned to Earth 7,000 years ago to protect and watch over humankind as they evolved and developed.
The project also introduces the higher-power that the group gets their orders from The Celestials. These massive beings are basically gods to the MCU. If the term sounds familiar, that's because fans have heard it in another Marvel Studios project: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In Gunn's second MCU outing, Peter Quill's father is introduced; a character played by Kurt Russell going by the name of Ego the Living Planet. He also claimed to be Celestial.
The problem is that what the film shows doesn't line up with what Eternals establishes. None of the other Celestials have a human form, are reproducing with various species across the galaxy, or are fixated on universal domination.
So what's the deal?
Is Ego Still a Celestial After Eternals?
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, Eternals screenplay writers Ryan and Kaz Firpo were able to address the question that’s on everyone’s minds: is Ego really a Celestial?
According to Kaz, they “talked about it at length” in the writer’s room, and posed the theory that “Guardians [Vol. 3] might have something to say about [that]:”
“We talked about it at length, but it's one of those things where I think that maybe Guardians [Vol. 3] will have something to say about it… Ego’s a really fascinating character, whether he’s lying or not, that’s a question…”
Elaborating further, the Eternals writer made it clear that it's something they hope “to continue to explore a little bit.”
“… I think that you’ve seen the Celestials now in our film, what they are, what they’re capable of, the fact that they are truly as large as planets, give birth to suns, and they’re immortal space gods—even more than our tiny little immortal space gods. So I think it’s going to be something that we’re going to continue to get to explore a little bit.”
As a final thought, he pointed out that “the Eternals… don’t even know who [Ego] is:”
“... and I think that you know, as far as we know, the Eternals haven’t met Ego. They don’t even know who he is. Was he an imposter? I don’t know, but I’m excited to see James Gunn’s Guardians 3 as much as you are.”
Do the Eternals Have a Big Ego in Their Future?
Once it was revealed that Eternals was set to feature true Celestials for the first time in the MCU, fans immediately questioned what the connection was to Ego—and more importantly, Peter Quill's heritage.
The new Marvel Studios film comes and goes without a single mention of the living planet, but it's great to see the topic was heavily discussed in the writer's room. It's just sad how fans will have to wait that much longer for a solid answer.
If Ego was lying, as the writers point out, it would make perfect sense for the character and is absolutely something that he would do—but it would also be an extremely lucky way for Marvel Studios to find its way out of a continuity hiccup.
While the details of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are still a mystery, it's hard to imagine the film focusing all that much on Kurt Russell's Ego; with Adam Warlock's introduction and all. Hopefully, however, these teases from the Firpo cousins do in fact mean that Gunn's upcoming threequel will provide some Celestial-sized answers.
Eternals is now playing in theaters worldwide.
