‘Eternals’: Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek Finally Confirm if the Eternals Could Kill Thanos
Eternals introduces the biggest mythology in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. It spans over 7,000 years and tells a new mythos with new superheroes and threats. However, Thanos has remained the ultimate threat that superheroes are often compared to. The Eternals prove to be rather powerful, but would they have been strong enough to take down Thanos himself? Actors Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek confirm their answer.
‘Eternals’ introduces a new superhero ensemble
Eternals is told in a non-linear fashion going as far back as 5,000 B.C. They arrived on Earth to protect the planet from their evil counterparts, called the Deviants. The Eternals are never to interfere in human conflict unless it happens to involve the Deviants. Therefore, they were unable to interfere during Thanos’ plans to eliminate half of all life in the universe using the infinity gauntlet.
The new MCU installment introduces a new superhero ensemble that will certainly have a big part to play in the franchise’s future. These new heroes include Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard madden), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Druig (Barry Keoghan), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Ajak (Hayek), and Thena (Jolie). Eternals has a huge cast of new characters, each with their own abilities that are a bit different from their comic iterations.
‘Eternals’ stars Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek explain their power levels against Thanos
Collider interviewed Jolie and Hayek to discuss all things Eternals. They talked about their excitement in joining the MCU and the differences between their film and comic iterations. Jolie and Hayek finally answered if the Eternals could have killed Thanos on their own.
Jolie quickly said, “Yeah.” Hayek responded, “Absolutely. Thena would have taken him on her own!” Jolie replied, “Thank you.”
Next, Jolie and Hayek talked about their Eternals power levels. This directly feeds into the Thanos conversation. The MCU changes the power levels of every character that enters the MCU. Apparently, Jolie had a lot of questions regarding the extent of Thena’s powers.
“I had lots of questions,” Jolie said about Eternals power levels. “Because I had to fight. Even fighting Ikaris and saying, ‘But wait. Can I bounce his eyes back at him with my shield?’ You have lots of questions.”
Jolie continued: “So, in the comics, if you look us up, all of us have every power or something like that. It’s some extraordinary thing, which is no movie. It’s one of the very smart things that they did was they said, ‘These characters won’t be able to challenge each other or this movie would be over in a minute if everyone can do everything and everyone’s supremely powerful.’”
“So, we kind of divided the skills a little more than what was in the past, so I can’t fly, he can’t have weapons, this person can’t do this,” Jolie explained. “It had to be that way.”
Hayek chimed in about Eternals powers: “And we were divided into groups. Ones that were more physically, they had superpowers that were more physically for battle. Some that were more intellectual powers, like transformation or me healing that were not so much for typical war. But, they were used, so I thought that was the interesting thing.”
“I was kind of disappointed because I can fly in the comic, but…you will see,” Hayek said. “I can kind of glide. And if she [Jolie] could fly…” Jolie interjected, “I would have taken Ikaris out.”
The threats have grown past Thanos
Eternals introduces the Celestials, which significantly increases the scope and scale of the previous MCU installments. This also means that the oncoming threats are going to be much more intimidating than much of what audiences have seen before. Thanos is still a powerful foe, even if his MCU adaptation isn’t as strong as his comic iteration. However, Phase Four is clearly setting up for something even bigger.
Eternals is now playing in theaters.
