The Eternals might find themselves off the MCU bench in the near future. Celestials have been some of Marvel Studios' biggest movers and shakers, dating back to the early days of the Infinity Saga. They're the most powerful beings in the universe, being capable of bending time and space to their will.
Outside of deciding which planets get to live, the Celestials' biggest contribution to the MCU is the Eternals, synthetic beings sent across the galaxy to prepare worlds for their destruction. The Eternals headlined their own movie back in 2021, which failed to meet the high expectations typically associated with a Marvel Studios production.
Eternals crashing and burning was a tough blow for Kevin Feige and Co. Clearly, they had big plans for the property. Well, it might be time to dust them off because X-Men '97 introduces a concept in its Season 2 finale that could mean big things for the Eternals in the future.
The rogue Celestial Eson showed up early in X-Men '97's sophomore outing, calling to En Sabah Nur, who sought to destroy his oppressors in Egypt. The promise of ultimate power was too much for Nur to ignore, so he struck a deal with Eson to unleash an apocalypse on the world.
It took Apocalypse a few millennia to get everything in place. No matter where the villain surfaced, though, he was always being hunted by the time-traveling mutant Cable. Their rivalry comes to a head in Season 2's final episode, "Survival of the Fittest." With the help of X-Factor, Cable takes the fight to X-Corp, which is harboring Apocalypse's newest vessel, Gambit.
Cable believes he's one step ahead of Apocalypse because he has a device that tracks the Celestial Energy inside of him. With it in his back pocket, he knows exactly how much time he has before the monster takes full control of Gambit.
The trump card ends up not mattering because Apocalypse has his own trick up his sleeve. However, the mention of Celestial Energy is still noteworthy because Apocalypse certainly isn't the only character in the multiverse who houses it.
Like Apocalypse, the Eternals owe their incredible power to the Celestials. It's easy to envision a scenario where, when Apocalypse finally gets his shot at live-action redemption, the Eternals aren't far behind him. Marvel Studios would be killing two birds with one stone and opening the door for its X-Men to go where no other big-screen iteration has gone before.
Marvel Studios Is Setting Up The X-Men For A Future In The Stars
Fox decided to keep its mutants grounded. The only time they left Earth's atmosphere was in Dark Phoenix, when the X-Men saved a group of astronauts from certain death. Marvel Comics has the X-Men fight in space what feels like every other week. Every cosmic event the publisher puts out features at least a mutant or two.
With it being time to reboot the X-Men for a new generation, it would make sense for Marvel Studios to lean into those cosmic roots to ensure no familiar ground is covered. Sure, the powers that be might be hesitant to throw Eternals' baggage on a franchise that needs to succeed. But there's just so much potential in turning Apocalypse into not only an X-Men villain but an Eternals one as well.
After all, the last time the Eternals appeared on screen, they were about to go after their friends who Arishem the Judge had captured. They were over being ordered around by a group of omnipotent maniacs. When they learn another Celestial creation is wreaking havoc, they're sure to want to get their licks in before it's all said and done.
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