After a year stuffed with MCU action, we’re almost upon the penultimate Marvel movie of 2021. While Spider-Man: No Way Home is promising a bunch of multiversal magic, when it comes to Eternals there’s a little less to go on. But what we do know is that the newest addition to the MCU will introduce no less than eleven new Marvel live-action heroes. With an already over-stuffed multiverse, it seems unlikely that all of them will survive, especially when most of them aren’t familiar to even the most passionate back issue bin explorer. So we’re here to look at their comic book histories and potential future in the MCU so we can make some very educated and definitely (not) scientific assessments on their likelihood of survival.
This is obviously all speculation, but on the off chance these come true, the following could be considered a spoiler. SO… let’s just go ahead and give one of these:
1/99 Sersi (Gemma Chan)
Marvel Studios
You can only unceremoniously kill Gemma Chan off once, so let’s begin there. This rare MCU do-over gives the actor a chance to find a lasting role with the studio. Aside from that glaring fact, Sersi could introduce the next iteration of the (Jacket) Avengers. In the ’90s, Sersi was a staple member of the team that adopted leather jackets to wear over their costumes. Nothing says “I’m cool” like a collar! With the MCU Avengers out of action, we think that we could be seeing Sersi and her A-team coming to our screens soon.
1/98 Dane Whitman (Kit Harington)
Marvel Studios
An enduring Avenger since the late ’60s. Marvel didn’t cast Game of Thrones’ Harington as Dane Whitman just to kill him. Along with continuing his romantic connection to Sersi, Dane will survive to take on his legendary Black Knight mantle and wield his signature Ebony Blade. And he could even live long enough to become the villainous Proctor. Either way, he’s an odds-on favorite to be a new Avenger and surviving member of the Eternals cast.
1/5 Gilgamesh (Don Lee)
Marvel Studios
If there’s any justice in the world, Don Lee will be the next MCU superstar. Sure, we’re playing favorites here, we want him to stick around. But canonically it makes sense for Gilgamesh to play a large part in the multiversal war to come. Just like Black Knight and Sersi, Gilgamesh has been an Avenger. Sure, it was in the much maligned Avengers #300 relaunch, but it still counts. Also, his powers are intriguingly unique. A talented and powerful hand-to-hand fighter, he can defeat an enemy with one punch. Plus, he has some serious history with a certain Kang the Conqueror, making his survival even more likely.
4/11 Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani)
Marvel Studios
Seeing as Kingo is currently the character fans are most excited about, we think his odds of survival are pretty high. The comic book iteration of Kingo is similar but very different as he lived in Japan and created a career from playing samurai. We know this movie changes him to a successful Bollywood actor for Nanjiani’s Kingo. During his long life, Kingo has gone against some of his fellow teammates and sought council in the Deviants. So it’s unclear where he’ll land in the context of the greater battle. But with his fan favorite status and reimagined history for the movie, we think his odds on living are pretty good.
4/9 Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry)
Marvel Studios
While we’d love to see Phastos—apparently the MCU’s first gay superhero—survive, we’re firmly in the middle on this one. Brian Tyree Henry is a blessing and the MCU is lucky to have him. But he’s also gay and Black in a superhero movie, which means that we’re not sure how long he’ll get to live. We hope that Marvel knows better than to Bury Your Gays with its first gay hero, but we don’t have much faith. In his defense, his incredible intelligence and powers that allow him to craft unbelievable machines seem like they could come in handy in the future battle to fix the multiverse… so maybe we’ll win this time?
1/2 Makkari (Lauren Ridloff)
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first on-screen Deaf hero who’s also played by a Black Deaf actress, we’re hoping Makkari sticks around. But just like Phastos, we don’t necessarily trust Disney to not sacrifice her at the first chance they get. Canonically, Makkari is one of the most influential and powerful Eternals. But if we look at the comics, it seems like we’re getting a Makkari after their interactions with the Dreaming Celestial: a Deaf/mute woman. That means it’s unclear how much they’ll pull from that powerful past. We will say, though, if romantic closeness to Sersi keeps you alive… Makkari might just have a chance.
1/1 Ajak (Salma Hayek)
Marvel Studios
Ajak is probably one of the most well known Eternals, so it seems like they could have a pretty good chance of survival. The reason they’re bang in the middle of our odds is two fold. In the trailer we see them visit Ikaris and then see him do his evil Superman eye lasers, so it could be that Ajak never leaves Ikaris’ farm. Secondly, in the comics Ajak has done terrible things to her fellow teammates like Gilgamesh and Makkari. So if she’s going to follow that path and turn on her one-time friends, she’s a likely candidate to die.
5/4 Druig (Barry Keoghan)
Marvel Studios
Look, according to the trailer this guy literally started a cult with his powers. First, that seems to go against the whole “don’t intervene” rule that stopped them stopping Thanos. Second, that’s a truly unhinged thing to do. But it absolutely goes along with his character in the comics, who’s a power-hungry untrustworthy villain. It’s interesting to see the trailers set him up as an ally. One of his most important and dangerous choices was helping Thanos… could that have been something he did in the MCU’s past too? And if so, surely he won’t live long.
40/3 Thena (Angelina Jolie)
Marvel Studios
Look, first things first: she’s Angelina freaking Jolie!!! And narratively from what we’ve seen in the trailers, it looks like Thena might be one of the most compromised members of the team. She seems to be connected to one of the monstrous Deviants that they’re trying to defeat. Also, during Avengers (vol. 8), Thena—along with all the Eternals—killed herself after the arrival of the Celestials’ final host. Though we don’t know if we’ll see all of them commit to that same fate, it seems likely that Thena might just sacrifice herself. And in the comics, she is one of the few Eternals who hasn’t been reborn since.
33/1 Sprite (Lia McHugh)
Marvel Studios
Sorry. Sprite. While her sarcastic humor and cool duplication skills in the trailer have made us Sprite fans, there’s one harsh truth here. If you’re a character who eternally looks like a teenager, it’s unlikely that you’ll get to see the sequel. Sprite also has a dark and deceitful history which has pitted her against her fellow teammates. Perhaps we could see that betrayal revisited in the movie, but either way we don’t expect Sprite to survive.
99/1 Ikaris (Richard Madden)
Marvel Studios
Look, we are sorry to the devilishly handsome Madden, but if Ikaris survives we’ll eat our shimmering intangible galactic armor. Not only does he appear to be standing in the way of the Eternals’ OTP of Sersi and Black Knight, but he has a couple of other things working against him. One, he’s too powerful. If you introduce Ikaris into the MCU he’s essentially Superman A.K.A. unbeatable. Marvel already has an over-powered problem, so they’re unlikely to add another near omnipotent character. Also, check out that name. His mythological inspiration flew too close to the sun. We’re guessing that if he doesn’t turn evil—like most modern Superman analogues—he’ll follow his namesake to doom.
Featured Image: Marvel Studios
