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Eternals trailer hints at Marvel heroes' long history on Earth

Director Chloé Zhao's Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is coming out in November.

Sean Keane Former Senior Writer
Sean knows far too much about Marvel, DC and Star Wars, and poured this knowledge into recaps and explainers on CNET. He also worked on breaking news, with a passion for tech, video game and culture.
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Sean Keane
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Eternals group shot

The Eternals gather for their first Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure.

Marvel Studios

The first teaser trailer for Marvel's Eternals, out Monday, follows the apparent millennia the main characters have been living on Earth while hiding their identities. The Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is directed by Chloé Zhao, who recently won a pair of Oscars for Nomadland. Eternals hits theaters on Nov. 5

The immortal aliens have apparently integrated themselves into various Earth cultures and quietly helped humanity progress without interfering directly. The events of Avengers: Endgame convince them to step into the spotlight.

The sentimental, majestic trailer ends on a light note as Sprite (Lia McHugh) wonders aloud who'll lead that team now that Steve Rogers and Iron Man are gone.

"I could lead them," says Ikaris (Richard Madden). After a pause, his fellow Eternals burst out laughing.

One might rightly wonder why Ikarus and his fellow superhuman aliens didn't try to help out when the Avengers fought Thanos or any of the other massive threats MCU Earth has faced over the years. Fans certainly did, and their musings spawned some glorious memes after the trailer dropped.

The cast also includes Angelina Jolie as Thena, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Gemma Chan as Sersi, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. Kit Harington plays human character Dane Whitman, who becomes sword-wielding hero Black Knight in the comics.

Eternals will be the 26th Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, and the third film in the MCU's Phase Four.

We didn't get any MCU movies in 2020, but they're coming back in a big way in the latter half of 2021. Along with Eternals, Black Widow is coming to theaters and Disney Plus Premiere Access in July. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings reaches theaters in September, and Spider-Man: No Way Home is coming in December.

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