“Eternals” Trailer Introduces New Characters and a New Threat

The teaser for Eternals showed off some beautiful imagery, but little else. This trailer finally gives us some backstory for this immortal alien race.

Crucially, it gives an answer to the big question: Why didn't they intervene when Thanos showed up? Apparently, they were sent thousands of years ago to protect and guide humanity, but had to recuse themselves from any conflicts not involving the Deviants. They're a rival alien race, and now they've come to invade Earth. That means Ajak (Salma Hayek) and Ikaris (Richard Madden) must assemble the rest of the team to stop the threat. So they'll be globetrotting to bring together one of the most gorgeous casts ever, including Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan and Brian Tyree Henry. Director Chloe Zhao insisted on some scenes being shot on location, so this looks a bit more majestic than some recent MCU films.

While I've been assured by comic book nerds online that the mysterious figure in outer space is not Galactus, the interplanetary warfare is almost certain to tie in to later films like Thor: Love and Thunder, The Marvels and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Eternals arrives in theaters November 5.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.