Even though the Eternals are arguably the best-kept secret in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are some MCU characters who may be aware of their existence. Some could have even encountered a few of them at some point in the past.
In 1976, legendary comic book artist and writer Jack Kirby created the Eternals for Marvel Comics. They were imagined as a race of super-powered immortals who have been sharing the Earth for thousands of years. By both blending in and hiding away in the hidden city of Olympia, they’ve managed to maintain a low-profile and avoid unnecessary attention from humanity. It wasn’t until the arrival of their creators, the Celestials, in the 20th century that they were forced to reveal themselves. The MCU will be doing the first-ever, live-action adaptation of Kirby’s superhero team in Phase 4. Based on what’s been said about them so far, it seems that the MCU interpretation of the Eternals will share the fundamental concepts from the comics, including their secretive nature.
That would explain why they didn’t show up to fight Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Endgame, and why no one has bothered to mention these supremely powerful beings. The Eternals have done such a good job at staying out of trouble that they have seemingly escaped the notice of some of the most knowledgeable characters, including Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. Despite his impressive resources, it’s quite likely that even an intelligence agency as well-informed as SHIELD doesn’t know about them. However, not everyone may be oblivious to who they are and the fact that they live somewhere on Earth. Here are the MCU characters who could know the shocking truth about the Eternals.
The Ancient One
If there’s any human in the MCU who has met the Eternals, it would be the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). As her name implies, Tilda Swinton’s character survived through centuries until her death in the Ancient One’s age, she may be old enough to these things, or any other incident where one of the Eternals might have slipped up.
Doctor Strange
If the Ancient One knew about the Eternals, it makes sense that whatever knowledge she had pertaining to them was ed down to her successor. The new Sorcerer Supreme, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange, could have learned about Olympia and its residents after the Ancient One’s ing. He may have known about them at the time of the first fight with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but knew better than to call on their aid. Both he and the Ancient One could have developed an understanding of the Eternals and their strict non-interference policy. Since they never get involved in human affairs, Strange may know that there’s no point in trying to reach out to them.
The Mandarin
The leader of the Ten Rings organization, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ main villain has been around for centuries, then there’s a chance that he’s had an encounter or two with one of the Eternals.
Odin
As the leader of the Asgardian gods and a being who may have lived as long as the Eternals themselves, it’s hard to imagine Odin (Anthony Hopkins) not knowing about them. Though he lived in Asgard, his people were responsible for watching over Earth, so any big incident involving the Eternals naturally would have alerted him. And looking at what was shown in the Eternals footage, it does appear that something did indeed happen long ago. Sersi (Gemma Chan) claimed that “we’re the ones who changed everything”. Something that monumental has to be an event that Odin would recall.
Heimdall
Not all of Odin’s Asgardians subject may know about the Eternals. Even Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) may be in the dark about their presence, but one Asgardian in particular may know more about them than any other MCU character. Because of his all-seeing abilities and status as the eyes and ears of Asgard, Heimdall (Idris Elba) could have been aware of their activities. In fact, if it’s true that Odin knew about them too, Heimdall may have been his source. Of course, it’s worth noting that nothing is for certain when it comes to Heimdall and his powers. Characters like Loki have succeeded in fooling his senses before, so it is at least possible that the Eternals could have pulled off a similar deception.
Thanos
In Marvel Comics, Thanos is a member of the Titanian Eternals, a branch that broke away from the Earth-based bunch over a millennia ago. It hasn’t been confirmed yet if there’s any connection between the MCU’s Eternals and its own take on the Mad Titan, but that does feel like a direction Marvel may head in with the movie. After all, that would provide an interesting explanation for why he’s so powerful, and it would give Eternals a big link to one of the MCU’s most popular characters. It may be established in the film that Thanos and his people descended from a relative of the Olympian Eternals. If that’s the case, Thanos potentially could have learned about his family history from his parents.
The Collector
In Celestials to audiences. His familiarity with them could always extend to their creations as well. Because of this and his reputation for collecting rare artifacts and lifeforms from all corners of the MCU, there’s no telling what he knows about Ikaris (Richard Madden), Thena (Angelina Jolie), and all the rest. Given his occupation, he may have even tried to get his hands on some of their possessions.
Zeus
Played by Russell Crowe, Odin’s Greek counterpart is confirmed to make his MCU debut in Zeus and the Olympian gods were worshipped by humans during ancient times. The problem, though, is that they were often confused with the Eternals (i.e., Hercules and Gilgamesh, Thena and Athena, Zeus and Zuras, Makkari and Hermes), whose base of operations wasn’t far off from Olympus. Sometimes the gods of Olympus were credited with the Eternals’ accomplishments and vice versa. This led to Zeus and Zuras (the leader of the Eternals) making a deal so that the Zeus’ people would get all of the credit. This way, it would be easier for Zuras and his kind to remain unnoticed. It could be that Zeus and the Eternals made the same arrangement in the MCU’s history.
