It’s become a joke in the post-Endgame world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that almost none of the major developments from movies in Phases Four and Five have ever come back in any of the subsequent films. What was the interstellar beacon teased during the post-credits scene from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? What’s the deal with the third eye on Doctor Strange’s head? Is anyone ever going to mention that damn dead Celestial from Eternals? Well, the Eternals‘ Celestial finally gets its day in the sun in, of all movies, Captain America: Brave New World.
The dead Celestial in the Indian Ocean, which was the main focal point of the finale of 2021’s Eternals, is the central plot point of Captain America: Brave New World. President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) has staked the reputation of his nascent Commander in Chiefdom to a treaty over joint access to and control of the massive corpse and the technological marvels inside. And what’s inside the Celestial leftover from the Eternals? It turns out, it’s a metal so strong, so powerful, it rivals Wakanda’s proprietary Vibranium. If Ross’ treaty goes through, all of the major nations on Earth will have access to this material and won’t need the “Isolationist” nation of Wakanda. That material? Adamantium.
A big ol’ action set piece takes place in the Indian Ocean around Celestial Island (what the movie calls it). The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) is attempting to start a world war between the US and Japan over the Adamantium, and it’s up to Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres to stop it. It’s arguably (and we argue it) the best sequence in the movie.
And so, we finally know what became of the death Celestial from the Eternals. We honestly thought Marvel had forgotten every aspect of Eternals, and while there’s still no Starfox, we finally got acknowledgment of the frigging enormous Celestial carcass. Incredible. What’s four years among friends?
Captain America: Brave New World is in cinemas now.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.