Marvel Studios are reportedly very confident in Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao’s cosmic vision forEternals, with a sequel already rumored to be in development. Film pundit John Campea has revealed that, despite the first movie not due to hit screens for another six months,Eternals 2is already on the Marvel board, and is as guaranteed as an eventualAvengers 5.
“It’s basically the same reasonAvengers 5andEternals 2weren’t announced. They were only announcing those films up to 2023 that have verified release dates. There are over 20+ projects on the board…. We all know there’s going to be anAvengers 5and there’s going to be anEternals 2.”
Now, while this is of course to be expected considering Marvel’s penchant for forward planning,Eternalswill open the Marvel Cinematic Universe to previously unknown forces, much likeGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2did, and you would expect that such a shift would require a response from audiences before moving ahead with a potential sequel. It does not sound like this is the case, and that in fact Marvel are so enamored by Zhao’s creative flair thatEternals 2is now a foregone conclusion. Zhao’s movie must be something special.
Eternalspicks up following the events of last year’s comic book blockbuster event,Avengers: Endgame, and will introduce audiences to The Eternals, a species ofimmortal aliens from a distant planetwho arrived on earth thousands of years ago and have been protecting humans since the dawn of time. Created by the Celestials, a race of powerful extra-terrestrial cosmic beings who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7000 years, The Eternals must reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.
Developed by Marvel legend Jack Kirby, Zhao has revealed thatEternalswill be heavily influenced by the iconic comic book artist saying, “Jack Kirby and his imagination, his incredible work, is really the foundation of it.” Zhao has also revealed that the movie will build on the foundation laid down by the MCU. “On top of that, there is what Marvel Studios has built, this incredible journey they have going on. And then on top of that is me as a fan of the MCU. And then, me as a fan of the genre, but also growing up with sci-fi and manga and fantasy films. And how can we have this big melting pot and cook up something that may just taste a little bit different? It was just an exciting thing; all of us went in wanting to do that. We’ll see.”
Eternalsis directed by Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao with a screenplay by Matthew and Ryan Firpo. The movie stars an epic ensemble cast alongside Ridloff includingHollywood icon Angelina Jolieas the fierce Eternal warrior, Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, the tactical leader of theEternals, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, an Eternal who can shoot cosmic energy projectiles from his hands, an Eternal with the gift of super-speed, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, who poses super-intelligence, Salma Hayek as Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh,the strongest Eternal.
Eternalsis scheduled to be released in the United States on July 27, 2025, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. This comes to us fromJohn Campea.
