Eternals is even more important to the MCU than we originally realized, hints Kevin Feige

Angelina Jolie as Thena in Eternals — (Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

Eternals was already set to be an epic, spanning millennia from ancient history right up to Marvel’s present-day. But now Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has seriously piqued our interest in a new featurette – by suggesting the upcoming superhero adventure will completely redefine the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"Eternals explores the very creation of the Marvel universe itself," Feige said in the new teaser (via Fandango). "The film also deals with the aftermath of [Avengers: Endgame], and the state the world is in." producer Nate Moore adds.

Those two aspects – explorations of both past and present – are likely going to be key, and feed into just how much Kevin Feige feels the impact the movie will have on the MCU as a whole. Spoilers: it’s a lot.

"The impact Eternals will have on the MCU will be nothing less than redefining the cinematic universe entirely," Feige insists. The Marvel boss usually keeps his cards close to his chest, so this sort of expectation-raising should make everyone sit up and take notice.

It’s not just in-universe where Eternals’ impact will be most keenly felt. As Angelina Jolie, who plays Thena, points out: "A lot of people are going to see themselves as superheroes for the first time."

Given the scope and scale of the hype so far, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed. Helpfully, especially given 10 new heroes are going to be introduced in just one movie, actor Gemma Chan breaks down the superhero group into two categories: there are the ‘thinkers’ of Sprite (Lia McHugh), Druig (Barry Keoghan), Ajak (Salma Hayek), Sersi (Gemma Chan), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos) and the ‘fighters’. The latter group consists of Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Thena (Angelina Jolie), and Makkari (Lauren Ridloff).

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.