Eternals chronicles the story of the immortal superbeings Homo Immortalis, who have been defending mankind against its worst adversaries, the Deviants, for thousands of years. The Celestials, super-powerful creatures that created the cosmos, created the Eternals. Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, and Gemma Chan, among others, are among the film’s formidable cast members. The film ushers in Marvel’s much-anticipated Phase Four, introducing these thrilling and innovative immortal superheroes.
The names of the Eternals, such as Sersi, Ikaris, and Thena, are strikingly similar to those of characters from Greek, Roman, and Indian legends. We’ll look at all 10 Eternals in this video and learn about their mythical, historical, and literary beginnings. By the way, towards the end of the film, you’ll find something intriguing. Take a look at it. So, without further ado, let’s get this party started.
Sersi
Sersi, played by Gemma Chan, is the primary protagonist of the film. She’s an Eternal who can control matter and modify the molecular structure of objects, such as turning stone into ice or sand into water, or changing the chemical structure of nearly anything. Furthermore, she’s extremely empathetic towards humans and can go to any lengths to save humanity, even if that means risking her own life in the process.
Although her character is depicted as someone who is gentle and compassionate yet vulnerable, the comics portray her differently, in which she’s outgoing and a flirtatious socializer. Nevertheless, it’s her vulnerability that makes her heroics more enhanced.
Sersi, on the other hand, takes her name from Cerci in Homer’s Odyssey. She was described as a strong sorceress and daughter of Helios, the sun god, in this piece of ancient literature. Cerci turns Odysseus’ troops into pigs and tries to do the same to him in the Odyssey, but the Olympian god Hermes comes to Odysseus’ aid and convinces Cerci to turn the pigs back into his men.
After this, the two of them go on to spend a year on her island and fall in love. If we talk about Hindu Mythology, Sersi resembles Goddess Parvati, who is the goddess of harmony and love, among other things. Like Parvati, Sersi also wanted peace and harmony.
Ikaris
Richard Madden’s Ikaris is undoubtedly the film’s poster boy, and he appears to be the MCU’s Superman. I mean, he can fly, shoot beams of cosmic energy from his eyes, and is immensely powerful. In one of the scenes, Phastos’s son claims that Ikaris was Superman and wears a cape, a statement that Ikaris denies.
Despite this, Ikaris has been presented as a strong person who is only devoted to the Celestials, his makers. Madden’s persona was clearly inspired by Icarus, a minor figure in Greek mythology. Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a brilliant inventor who worked for King Minos of Crete.
Daedalus had invented a huge maze-like labyrinth for his king, but after earning the king’s disfavor, both Daedalus and Icarus were banished in the maze.Finding no escape from the maze of his own creation, Daedalus built wings of feather and wax for himself and his son but warned Icarus that he shouldn’t fly too close to the water for the feathers would get wet and not too close to the sun for the wax would melt.
The two of them flew out of the labyrinth, but like any young child, Icarus ignored his father’s advice and soared high in the sky, flying too close to the sun, which melted the wax, and Icarus fell to his death.
Ikaris, the Eternal, looks a lot like Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction, and Vishnu, the Hindu God of Protection.
Thena
Thena, played by Angelina Jolie, is one of the most powerful warriors among the Eternals. Using her cosmic energy, she can create almost any weapon. Although Thena’s intellectual side has not been explored in the film, and she also has a cosmic mental condition called Ma’hdWyry, according to the comics, Thena is a highly intelligent being who has gained immense knowledge under the most learned Eternals.
Thena’s personality is very similar to Athena, the Greek goddess of combat and knowledge. Because she was born from her father Zeus’s forehead, it was thought that she was an intellectual person who was highly practical and pragmatic. She represents the civilized aspects of war, such as justice and nobility. However, her fury is known to be unsurmountable when any god earned her displeasure.
She is believed to be the patron and protector of several Greek city-states, the most notable of them being Athens. Likewise, Thena dedicates herself to the protection of humanity. However, the character of Thena is also similar to the goddess Durga from Hindu Mythology. The legend of Goddess Durga is a fascinating one.
She was created by the three most powerful gods Bramha, Vishnu, and Shiva, to destroy a demon named Mahishasura who had a boon, according to which only a woman could kill him. Mahishasura even captured heaven but was ultimately killed by Durga, who is also known as the goddess of war and protection.
Ajak
Salma Hayek plays Ajaki, the Prime Eternal who can communicate with the Celestials at any time. She served as a link between the Celestials and the Eternals and lived to serve the Celestials, but one of the Celestials’ missions caused Ajak to reevaluate the current situation.
Although the character was a male Eternal in the comics, Salma Hayek successfully gave her character a mother figure, and no one is complaining. The character is probably named after Ajax, the second greatest warrior of the Trojan war after Achilles. However, he was more of a defensive warrior and killed only when attacked. Probably this explains Ajak the Eternal’s healing powers.
Kingo
Kingo, played by Kumail Nanjiani, is an Eternal with the ability to blast energy beams from his hands. Although there is no important mythological or historical character associated with Kingo, a Babylonian god named Kingu did exist.
Sprite
Sprite, played by Lia McHugh, is the odd one out. Despite the fact that other Eternals are adults, Sprite is the only one who has the appearance of a 13-year-old girl. Her abilities, on the other hand, are extremely valuable to the gang since she can project lifelike illusions to get out of problems or cause trouble for others.
In numerous mythology, there are multiple references to child deities, but the name Sprite derives from European folklore, which refers to enigmatic fairies and pixies as Sprites. The most famous Sprites in English literature are probably Puck from William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ariel from The Tempest.
These entities are famous for scaring people and wreaking havoc in a grim and humorous way whenever they enter the mortal world. This explains Sprite the Eternal’s powers of creating illusions, etc. According to the comics, Sprite wanted to live life as an adult, and in the process, he erased the memories of all other Eternals. He was killed and later given a rebirth in the form of a girl.
Phastos
Phastosis, played by Brian Tyree Henry, is the Eternals’ tech guru. In the comics, he has additional abilities, but the film concentrates on his skills as a master of weaponry and a creative creator. Phastos helped humanity accelerate its social and technological developments by providing them with pieces of technology and guided several technological revolutions.
But these revolutions came at a price; soon, there was bloodshed because of the extensive use of weapons like guns. Phastos is most certainly an avatar of the Greek god Hephaestus, who was the god of metal-working, sculpturing, stone masonry, forging, etc. As a god, Hephaestus forged weapons for other gods of Olympus, serving as their master blacksmith and weapons master. However, Phastos bears a resemblance with the Hindu god Vishwakarma, who is believed to be the god of machines, etc.
Makkari
Makkarii, played by Lauren Ridloff, is the Eternals’ super-sprinter. Her character, like Ajak and Sprite, was turned into a girl in the film, although Makkari was a guy in the comic. It’s commonly noticed that fast heroes are disregarded as the most unfit ones in a group.
However, Makkarishows prowess and battle skill when she manages to subdue one of the most powerful characters who appeared in the film. The name Makkari is obviously a hint towards the Roman god Mercury, who was the god of messages and travelers. Mercury was known to move swiftly between worlds, much like his Greek counterpart Hermes. However, Mercury was also the god of eloquence. And, on the other hand, ironicallyMakkari couldn’t speak.
Druig
Druigi, played by Barry Keoghan, is an Eternal who has the ability to control people’s thoughts and make them obey his will. He was similar to Professor X, although he possessed many more abilities than the Professor. Druig, on the other hand, does not always have a mythical parallel.
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh, played by Don Lee, is the Eternals’ muscleman. Despite being a strong Eternal, he is gentle, caring, and empathetic to his fellow Eternals, particularly Thena. His abilities, like those of the other Eternals, are mostly muted and unexplored in the film, but one blow from his massive fist and even the most evil of villains will be looking for a place to hide.
Historically speaking, Gilgamesh’s character was named after the Sumerian King Gilgamesh, who was first mentioned in a poem that dates back to two millennia BC. King Gilgamesh was a mighty man who sought immortality but instead learned the meaning of life.
Interestingly, when the gods became wary of him, they sent Enkidu, an equally powerful but uncivilized man. The two of them initially fought each other, but in the end, they became friends and went on many adventures. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Gilgamesh the Eternal would have any such bromance on screen.
Finally, there’s a big announcement concerning Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman character, but that’ll be covered in another video.
Now it’s time to fulfill the commitment we made at the start. Have you seen our video about Knull, the symbiote deity, and the man who once murdered a Celestial? Knull presided over the immense empty void that existed before the cosmos came into being when there was no light or life.
But then came the Celestials, who created light and life. This basically pissed Knull off, and he went on a rampage. He’s the same ultra-villain whose sword was stolen by Gorr the God Butcher, who Christian Bale will play in the upcoming film Thor: Love and Thunder. Please check out the link in the description to know everything interesting about Knull.