Marvel’s Eternals is now out in theaters, introducing audiences to the MCU’s newest superhero team. Or rather its oldest, as the Eternals have actually been hanging around Earth for thousands of years. Obviously, this begs the question of why they haven’t appeared in the first three phases of the franchise. An explanation for this is provided in the film, however, as has been showcased in the trailers.
Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) asks his Eternal girlfriend Sersi (Gemma Chan) why her people didn’t help the Avengers against Thanos, to which she explains that they were sworn by their creators the Celestials never to interfere with humanity’s problems outside of the threat of the Deviants, their ancient enemies. In the run-up to the movie, a lot of fans saw this as a flimsy excuse. In a new interview, though, Harington has defended the explanation.
While speaking to National Post, the Game of Thrones vet called it “satisfactory” and argued that fans need to understand the MCU can’t get “too bogged down” with its past as it moves forward so as not to alienate people, so hardcore followers of the franchise need to suspend their disbelief.
“I think the answer is pretty satisfactory,” Harington said. “This is me talking to the Marvel fans, so shoot me. You mustn’t get too bogged down. This is a new phase; this is a new group of people coming in. If it becomes too much about the Blip or events that happened in the previous stuff, you can trip yourself up everywhere. We need to remember to keep a level of suspended disbelief.”
Obviously, those who are determined to make the MCU all fit together perfectly might not appreciate Harington’s response, but he does make a good point. As impressive as Marvel is at building up this interconnected universe, it is still being made up as it goes along so there will always be questions raised and holes to be filled that the fans just have to deal with.
In any case, Harington’s former GOT co-star Richard Madden, who plays Ikaris, has argued that you also have to consider whether the Eternals wanted to help against Thanos. As seen in the movie itself, the team are pretty split on how much they actually like the human race. So there are many ways to approach the mystery of where the Eternals have been all this time.