The director of Marvel's upcoming Eternals movie, Chloé Zhao, has spoken about the idea of what it means to be a hero when speaking about Gemma Chan's character in the film. Gemma Chan plays Sersi, who was described to the fans as the movie's lead. The Eternals are an immortal race of people that were created by the Celestials. They will reunite for this movie in order to stop the Deviants.
Sersi is a very powerful character in the Marvel universe and in the comics she has worked with many of Marvel's biggest heroes including the Avengers. Her powers in the comics include superhuman speed and strength, cosmic/atomic manipulation, telekinesis, flight, and teleportation to name a few. "It has always been a passion for me to create a nuanced female superhero that is rarely seen in this genre," Zhao told Vogue UK. Zhao also went on to say that Gemma Chan was very interested in the role and brought a sense of "gentleness, compassion, and vulnerability" to Sersi that Zhao believes will incite viewers to rethink the meaning of being heroic.
Eternals are a group of immortal aliens that have been living secretly on earth for millennia, and this movie will be introducing The Deviants to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not much is known about the movie's plot, but Marvel is putting a lot into the movie. From the trailers, this looks like it will be an epic, sweeping story, the likes of which has never been seen in the MCU.
While Sersi has an impressive list of abilities in the comics, there's no telling that this will transfer over to the movie as Gemma Chan described Sersi as, "not necessarily the best fighter, she doesn’t have the most obviously impressive powers... The main thing is she’s an empath. She has a connection with humans, and with the world and the earth. That is her strength, so I leaned into that."
Regardless, Sersi doesn't need to have Doctor Strange level powers in order to be an "acceptable" member of the Marvel universe's lore, so it's cool to see the creators speak about the depth that this character has. Being able to relate to the heroes is what makes fans want to keep coming back for more. While fans may know next to nothing about this film, it still should be on the watch list as it delves closer into the people who are in relation to Thanos. In the comics, Thanos is a hybrid of both Eternals and Deviants so fans may get more of a peek into Thanos' origins.
Eternals is slated for theatrical release on November 5.
Source: Vogue UK