Marvel’s Eternals features what might just be the best ensemble cast in an MCU production outside of The Avengers. What’s certain is that the House of Ideas brought together their most diverse group of actors yet for the upcoming movie, as helmed by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao. The film delivers many firsts for the universe in the process, including the MCU’s first-ever deaf lead and its first openly gay hero.
As we prepare to finally see the cast in action this Friday, Kumail Nanjiani⏤who plays Kingo in the film⏤has shared a couple of throwback photos on social media from when the gang first got together. The pics come from San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, the last time the event took place in person.
“This is the first time most of the cast met each other,” Nanjiani explained on Twitter. “Comic Con 2019. That was 7 years ago. (2nd pic is Eternals photo bombed by Thor 4 folks.)”
Check them out below:
The images, taken during a photoshoot with the cast, features Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Salma Hayek (Ajak), Zhao, Lia McHugh (Sprite), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Angelina Jolie (Thena), Lauren Midloff (Makkari) and Don Lee (Gilgamesh). As the actor says, the second adds Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi and Tessa Thompson from Thor: Love and Thunder to the mix. The only two out of the 10 Eternals not present in the photos are Gemma Chan (Sersi) and Barry Keoghan (Druig).
Fast forward two and a half years since SDCC 2019 (though Nanjiani’s right, it does feel more like seven) and Eternals is now hitting theaters this weekend. In a surprise twist, it’s facing some poor reviews, currently sitting as the MCU’s lowest-rated movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes. That said, early fan reactions are much more positive, so we’ll have to see how audiences en masse take to it before we can really determine where it ranks among the rest of the films in the franchise.