The following contains spoilers for Marvel’s Eternals.
Much of the focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2021 has been on the Disney Plus corner of it. With series like WandaVision, Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye, fans have a lot of content to stream. That doesn’t mean the movie front has been quiet though as Black Widow, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, and Eternals all made it to the big screen. Eternals in particular took the MCU in a more cosmic route, despite the story taking place on Earth.
The ancient race of beings, created by the Celestials, might be appearing on the big screen for the first time, but they have a long history. They also have a long list of Easter eggs to go with that history. The movie doesn’t rely on connections to other MCU properties to hook the audience, but it does provide comic book fans with plenty of nods to the source material.
Wider References To The MCU
Throughout the movie, there is an effort to remind the audience that, despite no appearances from Avengers, it is set in the MCU they already know. References to other characters are sprinkled throughout the movie.
Dane Whitman knows who Doctor Strange is, Kingo knew Thor earlier, and there’s even debate about who will lead the Avengers in the absence of Iron Man and Captain America. The audience is also reminded that the modern era of the movie is set in a post-Snap world as Thanos’ and his Snap are discussed multiple times.
The Six Singularities
When Eternals opens, it’s with a block of text akin to the Star Wars franchise, not the usual cold open fans have become accustomed to. That opening references the “six singularities,” and that the Celestials are even older than them.
In physics, a singularity is an infinite point in space-time where the laws of the universe break down. Fans might find that - as well as its number - a significant definition. There are six Infinity Stones in the MCU, and each of them create an infinite feedback loop of power when combined, defying the laws of physics.
The Named Celestials
Though there are more than two Celestials in the comics (and more than 10 Eternals), only two are named outright in the movie. Arishem is the first. In the comics, Arishem is known as The Judge. It’s Arishem who decides if an entire civilization gets to live or die, and he’s revealed to have that same force of judgment at the end of the movie. His history is rewritten a bit to be the creator of the Eternals as well.
The second Celestial is the one the group is split on whether they should allow it to be born: Tiamut. Tiamut is The Communicator in the comics, or the Dreaming Celestial. His job is to literally communicate the available life force of a planet back to his home base. Both Uatu the Watcher and Galactus are afraid of his potential, which means he would have been a seriously powerful Celestial to break apart the planet. Tiamut has previously tried to usurp Arishem’s power in the comics, which caused him to be locked under mountains in California.
The Domo
The ship that the Eternals use to get to Earth is a sleek design that could be found in any number of comic books. The design, however, isn’t the Easter egg, but the name.
The Domo is named for another Eternal in the comics. Domo is a high-ranking member of the race in the comics, and remains on the planet Olympia, acting as an advisor and the right-hand to the Eternal Zuras, who doesn’t appear in the movie either.
Dane Whitman And The Ebony Blade
Dane Whitman is less of an Easter egg and more of a sign of what’s to come in the MCU. The teacher, dating Sersi at the movie’s start, learns the truth about the Eternals right away, but there are also a lot of hints to his comic book story as the Black Knight.
The ring Sersi finds him with his family crest? That’s a nod to his comic book costume. The same symbol appears on both.Sersi also encourages Dane to make amends with his uncle. In the comics, that uncle is Nathan Garrett, who was the Black Knight before his nephew.
When Sprite asks Thena if the Ebony Blade is on their ship, but it’s really Excalibur, that’s also a nod to the sword he uses in the comics, which the audience gets to see in the post-credit scene as Dane struggles with whether or not to use the blade which draws on the darkness within those who wield it. Even Thena having Excalibur, and King Arthur having a crush on her, is a nod to the Black Knight backstory as one of the previous Black Knights actually worked for Arthur and Camelot.
WHiH UK
Fans who pay attention to news broadcasts in MCU properties know that WHiH is the fictional official news network in the universe. It first appeared in Iron Man 2 and has since been used in The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, and several Marvel television properties, including all of the Netflix series, Agents of SHIELD, and Runaways, which fans have begun debating the canon status of.
In Eternals it’s the UK branch of WHiH that makes an appearance as Dane Whitman, Sersi, and Sprite are all based in England at the start of the movie.
Mad Weary
While the term is pronounced “mad weary” in the movie, it does have its comic book origins in “Mahd Wy’ry.” While the movie sees it as a form of dementia caused when the memories of an Eternal aren’t erased properly, in the comics, it’s caused because, despite their functional immortality, the brains of the Eternals are essentially human, and they start to break down after centuries of use.
While the movie sees Thena afflicted, in the Eternals comics, it’s Sersi who is afflicted with the disease, and at one point, it’s Dane Whitman who is bonded to her to help anchor her in reality. It’s not unlike Gilgamesh staying by Thena’s side for thousands of years to help bring her back to reality.
Captain America’s Shield
Though Kingo namechecks Thor when the Eternals are (mostly) reunited, it’s clear he’s got an affinity for Captain America. During the filming of the dance sequence for his next Bollywood movie, there are shields designed similarly to Captain America’s being used as props.
He also has what looks like Steve’s original shield from Captain America: The First Avenger on display in his private plane.
Jack
When the Eternals go looking for Phastos they find that he has a life amongst humans - with his husband, and their son Jack. It could be a complete coincidence on the part of the writers, but Jack shares his name with legendary comic creator Jack Kirby.
Kirby was a hugely influential writer, artist, and editor, especially for Marvel comics. He’s co-created many of the characters the MCU audience knows and loves today, including Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, and the Eternals.
This Jack also apparently is a fan of another Disney property. There’s a Star Wars coloring book on the table. Sersi and Ikaris attempt to use it to act like they aren’t spying on Phastos with his son.
Makkari’s Room On The Domo
When the rest of the Eternals return to the Domo to figure out their problem of the Deviants and the sleeping Celestial, they find Makkari holed up there with a ton of books, pieces of artwork, and artifacts. Eagle-eyed fans will likely be able to find plenty of pop culture nods in her room, but it might take the scene being available on streaming or DVD for plenty of pausing before that happens.
What can be spotted is her shirt with a nod to H.G. Wells, noted science fiction writer who penned, among other novels, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War Of The Worlds. Also in her possession is the Emerald Tablet she and Druig try to get in Babylon.
The Emerald Tablet is an actual historic artifact, written supposedly by Hermes Trismegistus. The tablet has been translated into book form in numerous languages, but it’s also a nice nod to Makkari herself. The tablet’s author’s name is actually an amalgam of Hermes, a Greek god, and Thoth, an Egyptian god. Thoth is the Egyptian god of learning and languages, among other things. Hermes’ Roman equivalent is Mercury, who Makkari is clearly inspired by.
The Uni-Mind
Though Brainstorm might have been a great name for all of the Eternals uniting into a hive-mind-like use of their energy, Uni-Mind is a term straight out of the comics. Even the circumstances in which the group uses it are straight out of the comics.
The group united to make sure Tiamut stayed trapped under mountains in California after a particularly violent earthquake cracked his cage. It’s also following that instance that Sprite is given the energy that allows her to grow (though the character is male in the comics).
Starfox And Pip The Troll
The mid-credit scene introduces two comic book characters to the MCU. Pip the Troll is voiced by Patton Oswalt, a Marvel alum who played the Koenig brothers in Agents Of SHIELD, and voiced MODOK for an animated series. He’s actually a member of a royal family on a far away planet who ends up looking like a troll after an enchanted drink gets the better of him. He works for Adam Warlock and Thanos at different points in the comics.
He introduces the adventurer Starfox as Thanos’ brother, which is also right out of the comics. Starfox, or Eros, has the power to influence people to love him. He was a frequent rival of Thanos in the comics after Thanos attacked their home planet, though it’s not clear how the change in the origin story of the Eternals will affect his story in the MCU. And yes, that is musician Harry Styles in the role.
Vampires In The MCU
Kingo jokes about Karun thinking he was a vampire when they first got to know one another, but that joke might be more of an Easter egg to tease the post-credit scene of the movie.
When Dane Whitman debates taking up the Ebony Blade, a voice calls to him off-screen, questioning whether he really wants to take up the blade at all. It’s fitting since that voice belongs to Blade himself, Mahershala Ali. Ali is set to play the daywalking vampire in an upcoming Marvel project. It appears the Black Knight and Blade might have their own story on the way.
Eternals is currently playing in theaters.