New era. The Eternals cast has been described as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most diverse superhero teams yet. Meet the actors who play these heroes (and what they look like out of their costumes.)
Eternals is the 26th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the third movie in Phase 4 of the MCU. The movie follows the Eternals, an immortal alien race, who emerge after 7,000 years of life in secret to protect the Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. In an interview with Geek Culture, Chloe Zhao, the director of Eternals, explained that the movie is an exploration of humanity. “I wanted this so badly,” Zhao said of directing Eternals. “I wanted to work with the team at Marvel because I love the movies. With this particular story, I felt like I had something to offer, and it’s a story that addresses questions that I have for myself as a human being, and so I knew the making of that will allow me to grow.”
She added, “I’ve been thinking about us as a species. We are literally thinking about leaving this planet to go somewhere else. As a species, we’re always trying to leave home and search for something else – meaning, land, gold, opportunity – whatever it is and then in the end when we get older we always end up wanting to go home. I think that’s such a trend, and as I am getting older I think about these themes quite a lot—belonging and home.
So who’s in the Eternals cast? Read on for what the Eternals cast looks like in and out of their superhero costumes, and where else you may know them from.
Richard Madden as Ikaris
Image: Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Richard Madden, who is best known for his role as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, plays Ikaris in Eternals. Ikaris, who is Sersi’s love interest, can fly and project cosmic energy beams from his eyes. Ikaris’ powers have some similarities to those of Superman from the DC Comics. The parallels are referenced in Eternals when Jack, Phastos’ son, told his father, “Dad, that’s Superman! With the cape, and you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes!” To which Ikaris responds, “I don’t wear a cape.”
In an interview with Variety, Zhao explained why she decided to include the scene in Eternals. “We’re playing on a genre that draws so much from mythology, and Superman, for example, was created in the comics and also by these brilliant filmmakers along the way—they’re modern reinterpretations of a mythical characters that exist in different cultures,” she said. “Ikaris is our interpretation of it. It doesn’t mean we can’t pay tribute to the really iconic version that we’ve all grown to love and has influenced us.”
Angelina Jolie as Thena
Image: Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Angelina Jolie, who won an Oscar for Girl, Interrupted in 2000, plays Thena, an Eternal who can form any weapon out of cosmic energy. She has a close bond with Gilgamesh. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jolie revealed that she trained with swords, spears, staffs and learned ballet to play Thena. “Standing there next to each other, the first time we all stood in our suits together and took off our secrecy cloaks and had to stand there for the shot, what you felt was just a lot of support,” she said of her first time on set with the whole Eternals cast. “We were smiling at each other, and there was just a lot of kindness.”
Gemma Chan as Sersi
Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Gemma Chan, who is best known for her role as Astrid Leong in Crazy Rich Asians, plays Sersi, an Eternal with a strong connection to humans and the Earth. Sersi, who is love interests with Ikaris, has the ability to manipulate inanimate matter. In Eternals, Sersi is a museum curator on Earth, who’s dating a man named Dane Whitman, before she and the rest of the Eternals reunite to fight the Deviants. (Chan also played Minn-Erva in 2019’s Captain Marvel.) Zhao explained to Vogue why it was important for her to include Sersi in Eternals.
“It has always been a passion for me to create a nuanced female superhero that is rarely seen in this genre,” Zhao said. “Gemma was very interested in this idea as well and took on the challenge. She is a great actress. Very intelligent and brave. She brought a beautiful sense of gentleness, compassion and vulnerability to Sersi that I believe will invite viewers to rethink what it means to be heroic.”
Lauren Ridloff as Makkari
Image: Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Lauren Ridloff, who is best known for her Tony-nominated role in the Broadway play Children of a Lesser God, plays Makkari, an Eternal with the power of super-speed. Ridloff, who is deaf, plays the first deaf character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “The ironic part about this is when I started training for the role, I was told to stop running,” Ridloff told Entertainment Weekly about how she she trained for the role. “I was like, excuse me, stop running? Really what they wanted to do was focus on building the symmetry of somebody who looks like a sprinter, and they tend to be a bit more muscular. So I focused mostly on building muscle, especially my legs.”
Salma Hayek as Ajak
Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Salma Hayek, who has been nominated for an Oscar for Frida, plays Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, who has the ability to heal. Ajak, who is described as wise and spiritual, is also the “bridge” between the Eternals the Celestials. The character was originally written as a man in the Marvel Comics. “She’s full of contradictions,” the actress says. “She’s the bridge between the Eternals and the Celestials, and it’s never easy to hold two sides together.” Hayek told Entertainment Weekly of the character.
Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo
Image: Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Kumail Nanjiani, who starred on Silicon Valley, plays Kingo, an Eternal who can project cosmic energy projectiles from his hands. Before he reunites with the rest of the Eternals, Kingo was a famous Bollywood star on Earth. To prepare for the role, Nanjiani told Entertainment Weekly that he watched old Errol Flynn movies and the original Zorro films. He also learned how to dance for a Bollywood number.
“I’m not a dancer,” Nanjiani said. “I have zero rhythm. I had to take months and months of classes to do this. So it was very challenging, but I know that if we could pull this off and capture the joy and excitement of a Bollywood dance number in a Marvel movie, that would be special—because I grew up watching Bollywood movies. I knew every Bollywood movie until like the late ’90s. So to be able to do an homage to the genre of movies that I loved and grew up watching was really special.”
Lia McHugh as Sprite
Image: Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Lia McHugh, who has starred in several horror movies like 2017’s Totem, plays Sprite, an Eternal who can project life-like illusions. McHugh, who is 15 years old, told Entertainment Weekly about what it was like to play a character who looks like a 12-year-old child but is really thousands of years old.
“I sort of related to her in the way that I’ve lived my whole life because I look younger than I am,” she said. “I really related to her in that way and in wanting to grow up a little bit, but being stuck in a way.” She also talked about what it was like to do stunts for the movie. “Towards the beginning of filming, I was in a harness doing this crazy choreograph stunt scene, and I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, my brothers are going to think I’m so cool,'” she said. “It was just a crazy moment because I’ve never done any stunt work like that before, and it just all hit me at once, how insane all of this is.”
Ma Dong-seok as Gilgamesh
Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Ma Dong-seok, who is best known for his role in 2016’s Train to Busan, plays Gilgamesh, the strongest Eternal. Gilgamesh also has a strong connection with Thena. He’s protective over his family and humans, and he has a solid, dependable character that serves his team in battles,” he said of the character. “At the same time, he’s a funny guy and has a sense of humor.” He also talked about how the character’s ability to defeat enemies with a single punch fit his personality. “That fit me perfectly because I’m a longtime boxer myself, for over 30 years since I was a kid,” he said. “Gilgamesh’s action is based on boxing, so I could add real boxing movements.”
Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos
Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Brian Tyree Henry plays Phastos, an Eternal with superhuman intelligence who invents weapons and technology. Phastos is the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “I never in a million years thought I’d be a part of the MCU,” Henry told Entertainment Weekly. “I have always been a huge fan. I’ve been obsessed with the concept of superheroes and the concept of mankind needing saving. And I think that when you get these group of people together, who just have these intimate senses of super powers and saving humanity, it’s something that we all kind of need. It literally brings everyone together regardless of where you’re from. I’m still freaking out that I’m a part of it.”
Barry Keoghan as Druig
Image: Courtesy of Everett Collection. AP Images.
Barry Keoghan, who starred in 2017’s Dunkirk, plays Druig, an Eternal who can manipulate the minds of others. Druig is described as aloof. “I was the last one to get into costume,” Keoghan told Entertainment Weekly of his first day on set. “When I arrived and put it on for the first time, it was kind of nice to walk out and see the rest of the cast’s reaction. They were like, ‘Whoa!’. It’s a weird feeling to see yourself like that. As soon as you put the boots on your posture transforms. You definitely notice how your whole demeanor and everything just changes.”
Eternals will be available to stream on Disney Plus in 2022. Here’s when fans can watch it for free.
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