The Eternals: Everything you need to know about who – or what – they are

Ikaris

Okay, so what about the various individual Eternals themselves, or least the ones that will appear in the movie? Well, why not start with the one Eternal who always appears front and center whenever there’s a group shot of the Eternals in the comics: Ikaris.

Played by Richard Madden in the upcoming film, Ikaris’ actual name is Daedalus. And yes, he’s the same Daedalus from Greek mythology who invented flight and whose son, Icarus, died from flying too close to the Sun (in truth, he flew too high into the atmosphere and lost oxygen). Him changing his name into a variation of his son’s was his way of honoring and remembering him. Oh, and he’s also the person who really built Noah’s Ark during the Great Flood, too.

Like all the Eternals, Ikaris can fly. Only his case, he’s the best flyer of the bunch. In fact, he’s so good he can make others fly so long as they are near him. That’s because Ikaris has mastered the ability to manipulate his own gravitational field, allowing him to soar in the air at supersonic speeds. He’s also one the closest things Marvel Comics has to Superman in terms of his powers, including heat vision. He’s also what’s known as a “Prime Eternal,” making him one the Eternals’ de facto leaders which, in turn, also makes him a key component for causing the transformation into a Uni-Mind.

Sersi

Of all the Eternals, Sersi (Gemma Chan) has consorted with humanity the most. In fact, she’s so involved that she’s had quite a few relationships of the centuries, the most recent being an ongoing on-again, off-again romance with another Marvel superhero and fellow Avenger, Dane Whitman, aka The Black Knight (Kit Harrington). Perhaps the reason comic book readers even know about her or the Eternals at all is because of her time on the Avengers.

As you might have guessed from her name, she’s also the actual inspiration for the sorceress Circe from Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. Or, to be more precise, she is Cirse from the Greek myths. And if you are familiar with the story, she can transform people into animals. In fact, she can alter matter on the atomic level, much like Atom Eve from Robert Kirkman’s Invincible. This alone makes Sersi one of the most, if not the most, powerful Eternal on Earth. In addition to that, she also apparently taught the wizard Merlin, witnessed the burning of Rome, and took part in the French Revolution.