Thread by @HeerJeet

1. So, the Eternals are finally coming to the MCU. Which raises the inevitable question, "is that a good idea?" And, for vast majority of people, the prior question, "what the hell are The Eternals?"

https://twitter.com/Fandango/status/1447547532092006410

2. Briefly, The Eternals is comic book Jack Kirby created in 1976 which use the then vogue of Erich von Däniken takes up many of his favorite tropes (the merging of mythology with space opera, secret history, the return of the gods, humanity under the judgement of the divine).

3. Kirby's The Eternals is a rip-roaring head trip which I highly recommend. It's a lesser known part of his marvel work but the MCU has had a good track record of turning obscurities into hits (Guardians of the Galaxy etc). But I have my doubts here...

4. The spanner in the works here is that Kirby initially conceived The Eternals as a stand-alone series apart from the Marvel Universe. The original title was The Return of the Gods but Marvel already has a surplus of Gods (Thor, Loki Hercules, etc.).

5. The premise of Kirby's Eternals was humanity would be shocked by revelations about the alpha and omega: news that species has siblings (the demons & gods of mythology) but also a confrontation with a creator now making judgement (Celestials). That's bad fit for MCU.

6. Kirby clashed with editors who made ill-conceived push to integrate Eternals in Marvel Universe (the compromise was a character called the Pseudo-Hulk). That derailed the project, so the original conception of Genesis & Apocalypse got lost.

7. There's a larger debate to be had whether the Marvel Universe is just too damn crowded. I think ideas like the X-Men or characters like Spider-Man are best treated as stand-alones, so themes of marginalized group or individual alienation can shine forth.

8. If you want more on Kirby's The Eternals, both as a primer for the movie & a discussion of a fascinating if derailed series, boy do I have a podcast for you: jeetheer.substack.com/p/podcast-the-…