Of Gods and Men: Eternals Appreciation

[berserkerclaw]

The Eternal are pretty cool. I'm glad some of them are getting play. Ikkaris in All new Invaders #5. And according to solits Makari in December's All New Invaders #13

[GreenScar1990]

Sweet!

An Eternals thread!

We needed one!

It's a shame that Marvel has seemingly cast them aside in favor of the Inhumans.

Personally, I'm hoping they'll get spotlight in a future event that leads to them getting their own series!

[Justin K.]

Sersi! <3 I miss her so...

I was sad to not see her in All New Invaders.

[baltiroo]

Sersi! <3 I miss her so...

I was sad to not see her in All New Invaders.

Love her too! Wish that she can get a storyline soon. Sad that the Eternals aren't as popular as they could be. Really great and interesting concept that should be explored further.

[Moriarty]

i've always loved the Eternals. i wish we could get a mini series or Marvel Legends figure of Sersi or Ikaris.

[Nix Uotan]

I really liked the Chuck Austen written, Kev Walker illustrated MAX Eternals. I like the concept of the Eternals, but most of the characters don't strike a note with me. I was very interested in seeing what Neil Gaiman was going to do with the characters, but between 1602 and the Eternals (which I felt was hampered by JR Jr art), I wasn't really all that impressed with what Gaiman brought to Marvel.

I would like someone at Marvel to re-invent the concept of the Eternals, but not make it grounded. Make it "high fantasy/sci fi", like you said.

I'm not sure if re-inventing the concept is necessary but perhaps a goal and something unique needs to be done to attract the readers. In a world without a million and one superheroes, something has to be done that makes the Eternals unique. Mutants capture persecution, the Avengers adored superheroes (or near adored) and the Inhumans a foreign culture. What could the Eternals represent? I think much of the themes can still be used but finding something to make them relevant is the point such as ancient beings that inspired legends of heroes such as Gilgamesh or Hercules. The Deviants can still be villains, fellow Eternals can be foes and the Celestials grand plan still a part of the plot. But what else? What is their to capture a reader? That is the question that I think has eluded the Eternals in finding a stable book.

As to who could do it.... no idea. Maybe someone like Grant Morrison or that level of stuff? Something different and unique would need to be done. Essentially, one has to tackle the Eternals as not being a book about superheroes in tights but something more than that.

[CaTigeReptile]

I'm not sure if re-inventing the concept is necessary but perhaps a goal and something unique needs to be done to attract the readers. In a world without a million and one superheroes, something has to be done that makes the Eternals unique. Mutants capture persecution, the Avengers adored superheroes (or near adored) and the Inhumans a foreign culture. What could the Eternals represent? I think much of the themes can still be used but finding something to make them relevant is the point such as ancient beings that inspired legends of heroes such as Gilgamesh or Hercules. The Deviants can still be villains, fellow Eternals can be foes and the Celestials grand plan still a part of the plot. But what else? What is their to capture a reader? That is the question that I think has eluded the Eternals in finding a stable book.

As to who could do it.... no idea. Maybe someone like Grant Morrison or that level of stuff? Something different and unique would need to be done. Essentially, one has to tackle the Eternals as not being a book about superheroes in tights but something more than that.

What the Eternals could represent is the grand scheme of the Celestials. They're a fantastic concept because they're not just limited to Earth: there are, or in some cases like the Kree and the Skrull were, Eternals of every big known Marvel species. Do that angle. Are they all connected somehow? Like, is there a giant intergalactic community of Eternals, tied together by their Eternalhood? Can Eternals from different species join together in a/the Unimind? The "Good, the Bad and the Ugly" concept of the Eternals, Deviants and the Naturally-Evolved is a fun path that can be explored among the different races and how they affected their respective - and each other's - planets.

You can look at the sci-fi/fantasy/godly angle all together at how these celestial beings imbued with cosmic energy are, in fact, the results of genetic experimentation and so while they appear to be ethereal on the surface, they are about as grounded as they can be. They are created from the templates of mortal species, and thus have similar mindsets, but they live essentially forever. Is that incompatibility - robbing a mortal creature of its mortality - the reason for the Mahd Wy'yr? (Not saying that was the best story line ever but it's a great concept). Did the Celestials mean to make up for that by giving them the Unimind instead of death? Delving into the idea of the consequences of essential immortality would be great.

There's some other stuff I'd love to see with them but I don't feel like thinking hard enough to remember.

[Nix Uotan]

Something of interest:

windcaster864: Is there any interest to involve the Eternals in the upcoming event "Secret Wars" or in its aftermath?

Tom Brevoort: Wait and see!

So... some plans for the Eternals soon? I hope so.

I would be curious to know the Eternals reactions to the Inhuman population explosion. They know of the Eternals already so that won't be surprising... they were the ones that helped locate a new site for Attilan and were friends to Black Bolt. I would imagine they wouldn't be bothered... unless some Eternals think of the Inhumans as something unexpected in the grant design of the Celestials for Earth. After all, the Inhumans were created as living weapons/catalysts for genetic change. And, if you go by that one story, the Inhumans were created from knowledge discerned from dissections of an Eternal by the Kree.

[HaveAtThee]

Love the concept and I LOVED the "Eternals Saga" in the Thor book with Roy Thomas and art by the greats John Buscema and Keith Pollard. That was some seriously epic storytelling. Sadly, in today's Marvel, I don't think they would know what to do with them. They barely know what to do with the existing pantheons. It would suck to see them shoehorned into the "they're just a cool race of aliens, lulz" genre that they're doing to the Asgardians.

[Nix Uotan]

In case anyone's interested, Hickman seems to have expressed interest in writing the Eternals after taking a break once he's done with Secret Wars. He posted it on twitter and Brevoort mentioned in an interview somewhere that Hickman is talking about it. What are people's thoughts about that? Would Hickman be a good writer to do an Eternals book?

[scribbleMind]

I think Hickman would make an awesome Eternals book, it's right up his alley.

But since he's leaving it's not going to happen, at least not for a while.

[Winterboy]

Thena. What a great character!

[Ceebiro]

I do enjoy the Eternals although the only Eternals story I've read was by the Knaufs.

That said, I'd love for them to become active participants in the MU. There's zero reason that they'd have no place in all of this Secret Wars (and the build up) given their created purpose. They should have crashed the Illuminati's party ages ago.

Also, Sersi should definitely give superheroics another shot.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I'm kind of hoping that they get the same kind of push in the future that the Inhumans are getting now.

It would be nice

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I'd like to know if it's only the Olympian gods that they stood in for, or other pantheons as well. I know that Ajak's worked with the Incan gods, but that's all.

Think it was only Olympians