‘Eternals: Thanos Rises’ Major Reveals for Marvel’s Baddest Villain
Thanos proved his true threat when Avengers: Infinity War opened with the Mad Titan beating the Hulk into submission. However, audiences get little to no information on why he possesses such immense power in the Avengers movie. A September 2021 Marvel comic sheds a little light on the Eternals, Thanos’ origin, and their connection.
The Eternals, Thanos’ origin, and the cosmic side of Marvel
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has danced around the topic of Eternals, Thanos, Celestials, and the cosmic side of Marvel.
In Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora mentioned that Knowhere once sat on the shoulders of a Celestial. Later, as the Collector explained the Infinity Stone, a Celestial appeared wielding the Power Stone. Peter Quill’s father and villain Ego was actually a Celestial himself.
Thanos’ origins are somewhat similar. In the comics, Thanos is actually the son of an Eternal.
While Marvel’s Eternals brings more attention than ever to the cosmic side of Marvel, eyes turn to the fact of Thanos’ backstory.
In a September 2021 comic, Marvel dives deeper into the Mad Titan’s backstory.
‘Eternals: Thanos Rising’ shows the Mad Titans’ parentage
The Eternals are thousands of millennia old. As such, they experience brutal wars and battles that shred through entire planets. However, for the Eternals, it’s just another Tuesday. Eternals: Thanos Rising finds the Eternals in one of these civil wars, which just as quickly ends.
Writer Kieron Gillen spoke with Comicbook.com about what living as an Eternal means.
“’Eternal’ doesn’t mean immortal. ‘Eternal’ means unchanging. That’s a different thing,” he explained. “[Neil] Gaiman and [John] Romita Jr. very much brought this aspect out, and we’re pushing it even further.”
And the Eternal called A’Lars looks to push it as well. Normally, Eternals cannot have children. However, A’Lars and a woman from Titan, Sui San, want to start a family. Turning to the Eternal Kronos, they manage to make it happen.
That Eternals child is none other than Thanos himself.
Born with a Deviant gene, Thanos was immediately seen as an outcast by even his own parents. This started the long journey to his universal plans.
Does this shift hint at a connection in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Looking closely at home stories in the Marvel comics have changed alongside the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains very telling.
For example, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were originally Mutants, children of X-Men villain Magneto. This longstanding piece of continuity was majorly retconned to fall more in line with the movies.
Could the emphasis and slight changes to Thanos’ backstories signal things to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
The strongest connection between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Eternals remains Thanos. It is hard to imagine the Eternals movie not touch on it.
How much this will affect the Marvel Universe, however, is another question. It seems that Marvel has moved on from the Mad Titan and looks to Kang the Conquerer as the next big bad.
Though, with the Multiverse coming into play, anything can happen.
The Eternals: Thanos Rises one-shot released on September 15, 2021.
