Eternals Should Marvel turn the Olympians into Eternals?

[Abudefduf]

What the title says. This could be just my deep ignorance concerning the Eternals talking, but wouldn't it make sense to fuse the two families together?

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the Eternals' relationship with the Greek gods:

The first was Olympia, located in the mountains of Greece, near the main portal between the Earth dimension and the Olympians' home dimension, which lead many ancient Greeks to confuse some of the godlike Eternals with members of the Olympian pantheon. Eventually, an agreement was reached with the gods where some Eternals, such as Thena, would impersonate the Olympians before their worshipers.

Come on, how does this not scream "make them the same thing!".

 

[Silvermoth]

Hmm I don’t know. I could hear people kicking off because apparently there are still people who believe in Zeus et all. Then again, you probably wouldn’t go to a marvel film for accuracy, certainly didn’t work out for the Vikings with Thor.

I’m sure there’s a really clever way to give the Greek Gods their own corner of the marvel u. I’m dying to see herc

 

[Lilbaz]

Really depends on what stories they want to tell. Yes they could do it but do they want to?

 

[Mike Murdock]

I don't think it would be beneficially to the Eternals to add non-Eternal characters like Hercules. But I also don't think we'll get the Olympians so, to me, it's dealer's choice. I don't think it's a huge boost but I can see some value.

 

[All-Father]

love these characters, and I think they have potential to be as interesting as the mythological pantheons, but they should be displayed in a unique way. The cosmic humans created by celestials is the way to go, imo.

 

[Iceman]

I don't know the best way to include them in the MCU but I really want to see them.

 

[Xeno]

love these characters, and I think they have potential to be as interesting as the mythological pantheons, but they should be displayed in a unique way. The cosmic humans created by celestials is the way to go, imo.

I agree with this. In the original Kirby run, the Eternals originated in Greece and had extremely long lifespans and certain powers that caused them to be mistaken for the Olympian gods. Many of them were happy enough to play up their similarities to Greek gods and heroes either for personal reasons or for fun. They were a completely separate race, however, and ought to remain so in the MCU.

After all, Hercules could appear somewhere down the line. There is no reason to make any changes to the comics story that preclude the existence of such a fun (and potentially vital) Avenger.

 

[Iceman]

I hope we get Hercules, maybe in Phase 5 or 6.

 

[All-Father]

I agree with this. In the original Kirby run, the Eternals originated in Greece and had extremely long lifespans and certain powers that caused them to be mistaken for the Olympian gods. Many of them were happy enough to play up their similarities to Greek gods and heroes either for personal reasons or for fun. They were a completely separate race, however, and ought to remain so in the MCU.

After all, Hercules could appear somewhere down the line. There is no reason to make any changes to the comics story that preclude the existence of such a fun (and potentially vital) Avenger.

Agreed. And when you look at it, the olympians and eternals are not really similar. You could say that about Hercules and Gilgamesh/Forgotten One, but even Zeus and Zuras are quite different.

Ikaris, Ajak, Thena, Sersi, Makkari, Valkin(Thena and Makkari have a few similarities with Mercury and Athena) and the smaller ones like Vampiro, Kingo Sunen, etc. are quite different from the olympians too.

 

[Yowza]

I think the answer to the OP's question depends on perspective.

When looking at all the MCU films together as a whole, it seems convenient to find a way to meld things together in a manner that keeps things concise and provides more property bases covered at once.

1) The first thing that I wonder is why did Marvel Publishing make a comic with characters that sort of didn't seem to mesh in a 616 universe where mythological figures were already in use? The comics of course were already popping at the seams full of current and past hero's. I read somewhere Jack Kirby only wanted to loosely acknowledge the 616 universe (only cause editorial made him it seems) within Eternals Vol.1 in order to not interfere with the tone/creative venture that he wanted to go on with Marvel after he was unable to finish the New Gods over at DC.

This was the 1970's when ancient astronaut theory was beginning to catch on with Zachariah Sitchen's books being a prime example. This also gave a creative template for him to play with that felt slightly different than a myth based comic with the infusion of sci-fi and stylized art/action that was Kirby's thing. Correct me if I'm wrong but I read that Jack Kirby himself pointed out the mythological god figures Marvel publishing already had were some immediately distracting things he wanted to distance himself from.

2) The second question I ask is after Volume 1 ended why Marvel Publishing didn't just decide to replace/combine Eternal characters with other myth based characters already around before Eternals came out? I think the answer is they didn't feel a need to. The more templates to choose from equaled the more variety to stock comic containing store shelves with as the reader more than likely would just grab a random handful of different types without all the stories things really needing to feel very tonally streamlined with eachother every step of the way.

Overall, I think sticking to Kirby's vision would probably be easiest as far as making a film that goes with the concept as the creator intended. It's tempting to try and make things more connected as certainly feels complicated when look at how the comics are but I suppose Marvel can cross certain bridges when and where further properties are introduced.

*Afterall, the first attempt Marvel Publishing made to really directly connect the Eternals into the 616 publishing universe was the Thor: Eternal Saga (the next appearance of the Eternals after Volume 1 was cut short). Perhaps like what happened on the publishing side of things, various mythological pantheons can also show up at some point in a storyline set in the past or present to really emphasize yes they're similar but also different if only due to the fact Marvel Studios can make tonally different movies depending on what they pick.

 

[Abudefduf]

You guys are making some good points, but I dunno. After seeing how much Marvel has tried to downplay the Asgardians' connection with the Norse gods (they're just aliens! Magic is science!), I can't imagine them not doing the same with the Olympians. And the easiest way to accomplish that, at least in my opinion, would be to merge them with the Eternals.

They don't even have to use all of them, just the most popular (that means Hercules and Ares). No one cares about the other ones or about how much they differ from their Eternals "counterparts". Like, I really doubt anyone but the most hardcore fans would complain if Thena and Athena were fused into one character.

but even Zeus and Zuras are quite different.

According to Wikipedia (again, I know next to nothing about the Eternals), Zuras is the son of Kronos. Kronos is Zeus' father in the Greek mythology. Come ooooooon, man. Was Kirby trying to drive his readers mad?

 

[THORin]

I know nothing about Eternals, but it seems to make the most sense to merge the two. And if DC isn't gonna be giving me the Greek Gods over with Wonder Woman, I want to see them somewhere. This whole Olympians stuff sounds really cool.

 

[zenith16]

What the title says. This could be just my deep ignorance concerning the Eternals talking, but wouldn't it make sense to fuse the two families together?

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the Eternals' relationship with the Greek gods:
Come on, how does this not scream "make them the same thing!".

there's not need they'll shoe up inthis cause this is being said every where. Example andthere'salot to cover with it as a movie serise's with the different god's of earth the odin tried to war with next to the the Eternals.



MCU News & Tweets‏ @MCU_Tweets 14h14 hours ago
THE ETERNALS, an upcoming @MarvelStudios film set millions of years ago at the dawn of humanity, will reportedly "connect to several existing characters" in the MCU! http://goo.gl/wJLHUQ

source: The Eternals Movie Will Have Connections To Familiar MCU Characters

and this is a good thing it'll introduce the Olympians and the God wars that Odin has had with the other gods of other countries next to Eternals before Zeus of the Olympians got him to stop when wanted to fight the Celetial's too. it's the birth of mutants and the mutates , & "the cross breeding" of Alien's of MCU and certain Demi gods too and other offshoots of humanity that have super powers like the lumerian's & Atlantis through genetic's. this is perfect lead into to every thing. I hope it's done right.

I don't know the best way to include them in the MCU but I really want to see them.

They don't have to do that much, it's written out in the books for them.

Just make it contemporary Odin seem to want to be at war with nearly all of earth's other god's from japan and Africa and even the Eternals and then Zeus stopped him when the
Celestial's told them not to interfere with humanity any more, which Odin want to take them down for that.

There's alot of stuff to use from jack kirbys run's and Neil gaimen's stuff which was more recent .

 

[bubbadoom]

I think the answer to the OP's question depends on perspective.

When looking at all the MCU films together as a whole, it seems convenient to find a way to meld things together in a manner that keeps things concise and provides more property bases covered at once.

1) The first thing that I wonder is why did Marvel Publishing make a comic with characters that sort of didn't seem to mesh in a 616 universe where mythological figures were already in use? The comics of course were already popping at the seams full of current and past hero's. I read somewhere Jack Kirby only wanted to loosely acknowledge the 616 universe (only cause editorial made him it seems) within Eternals Vol.1 in order to not interfere with the tone/creative venture that he wanted to go on with Marvel after he was unable to finish the New Gods over at DC.

This was the 1970's when ancient astronaut theory was beginning to catch on with Zachariah Sitchen's books being a prime example. This also gave a creative template for him to play with that felt slightly different than a myth based comic with the infusion of sci-fi and stylized art/action that was Kirby's thing. Correct me if I'm wrong but I read that Jack Kirby himself pointed out the mythological god figures Marvel publishing already had were some immediately distracting things he wanted to distance himself from.

2) The second question I ask is after Volume 1 ended why Marvel Publishing didn't just decide to replace/combine Eternal characters with other myth based characters already around before Eternals came out? I think the answer is they didn't feel a need to. The more templates to choose from equaled the more variety to stock comic containing store shelves with as the reader more than likely would just grab a random handful of different types without all the stories things really needing to feel very tonally streamlined with eachother every step of the way.

Overall, I think sticking to Kirby's vision would probably be easiest as far as making a film that goes with the concept as the creator intended. It's tempting to try and make things more connected as certainly feels complicated when look at how the comics are but I suppose Marvel can cross certain bridges when and where further properties are introduced.

*Afterall, the first attempt Marvel Publishing made to really directly connect the Eternals into the 616 publishing universe was the Thor: Eternal Saga (the next appearance of the Eternals after Volume 1 was cut short). Perhaps like what happened on the publishing side of things, various mythological pantheons can also show up at some point in a storyline set in the past or present to really emphasize yes they're similar but also different if only due to the fact Marvel Studios can make tonally different movies depending on what they pick.

Kirby had clearly intended the Eternals to exist outside of the 616 Marvel Universe - a NEW UNIVERSE if you will. For what ever reason the editorial folks forced him to include Marvel references like SHEILD and the Hulk. Of course after they drove Kirby away with all this tampering, they launch the "New Universe" line of books a few years later...once again Jack was ahead of his time!

 

[Surfer]

I posted this a while back in the Thor Sequels thread.

After Ragnarok I am hoping they will introduce the Eternals and the Olympians to the MCU. I would love to see a Battle between Thor and Hercules, Odin and Zeus and the Celestials landing on earth to create the Eternals. However, there has always been a problem in my mind with introducing both, because some of the Characters have similar names, powers and even looks. So to show that one group came from the Celestials and the other group came from Gaea and Ouranos, with no connection always seemed like too great a coincidence for the audience to buy it. So, with that said the options then becomes 1. Introduce only one of the 2 Groups and never use the other. 2. Introduce both Groups, but either change any of the characters that are too similar or avoid using them all together. For example Zeus and Zuras I would say not to use Zuras. However, a 3rd option came to mind. What if there was a way to connect their stories so it all made sense. So, I began doing some research on the matter and I noticed with both the Olympians and with the Eternals there were 2 Characters that seemed to be at the beginning of each story. Those Characters are Ouranos the Olympian and Uranos the Eternal, as well as Cronus the Olympian and Kronos the Eternal. In the Olympian Story Ouranos is the Father and Cronus is his Son. However, in the Eternals story Uranus and Kronos are Brothers. So, there is definitely some differences, but I tried to figure out how it would be best to try to connect these two groups. After much consideration, I decided that the best way is to have the Celestials create Kronos and Uranos using the Eternals story, along with several other first Generation Eternals. At this point the Olympian's still do not exist. Then to have Kronos mate with his Wife Daina (another Eternal) to create Zuras and Alar's (Mentor). Zuras will father Azura who will later become Thena, and Alar's will eventually mate with Sui San to give Birth to the Titan race including Thanos and Eros (Star Fox). However, back to how the Olympians fit into this. In Mythology and Marvel lore Ouranos mates with Gaea to create the race of Olympians. So, I started thinking since they are brothers in the Eternals story, what if I had Kronos from the Eternals mate with Gaea instead to create Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto, Hera and Hades of the Olympian bloodline with Zeus's line eventually leading to Hercules, Venus, Ares, Apollo, Athena and Hermes. Anyways, by doing so the Similarities of lets say Zuras and Zeus now have merit as they would be half brothers. Also, Gaea had relations with Odin which resulted in Thor, so it keeps the bloodlines connected between Asgardians and Olympians as well. So, I guess just like with the MCU it is all connected. Anyways, just some thoughts.

Surfer

 

[Flash525]

I know practically nothing of the Eternals, but I know my share about the Olympians, so I'd be more interested in seeing the Olympians within the MCU than I would be the Eternals. As such, I'd be happy for them to merge, cause it wouldn't really make much difference to me.

 

[Lilbaz]

You guys are making some good points, but I dunno. After seeing how much Marvel has tried to downplay the Asgardians' connection with the Norse gods (they're just aliens! Magic is science!), I can't imagine them not doing the same with the Olympians. And the easiest way to accomplish that, at least in my opinion, would be to merge them with the Eternals.

They don't even have to use all of them, just the most popular (that means Hercules and Ares). No one cares about the other ones or about how much they differ from their Eternals "counterparts". Like, I really doubt anyone but the most hardcore fans would complain if Thena and Athena were fused into one character.
According to Wikipedia (again, I know next to nothing about the Eternals), Zuras is the son of Kronos. Kronos is Zeus' father in the Greek mythology. Come ooooooon, man. Was Kirby trying to drive his readers mad?

They didn't live on earth so they were aliens. If magic existed and you could measure it's effects then it would be science, just new.

 

[CaptainMarvel19]

You guys are making some good points, but I dunno. After seeing how much Marvel has tried to downplay the Asgardians' connection with the Norse gods (they're just aliens! Magic is science!)

yeah, this.

 

[Surfer]

yeah, this.

Yeah, but in my version the Celestials create the Eternals and the Olympians are an off shoot of some of the earliest members of the Eternals. It would not be too disimilar to the way Titans are also an off shoot of the Eternals. Not to mention it still fits in with the whole MCU logic of doing away with Magic in favor of what appears to be more of these 3 groups are the results of an Alien's (Celestial's) Scientific Experiment.

At least thats how I see it.

Surfer

 

[Lilbaz]

Yeah, but in my version the Celestials create the Eternals and the Olympians are an off shoot of some of the earliest members of the Eternals. It would not be too disimilar to the way Titans are also an off shoot of the Eternals. Not to mention it still fits in with the whole MCU logic of doing away with Magic in favor of what appears to be more of these 3 groups are the results of an Alien's (Celestial's) Scientific Experiment.

At least thats how I see it.

Surfer

Still not sure how marvel got away with magic? If loki waves his hand and changes appearance, just because caulson says there is a scientific explanation for it doesn't mean it's less magical.
D&d had the weave, whhel of time had the source, feist had nakors "stuff". Just natural that people try and explain what "magic" is, what it's limitations are and how you use it (to an extent). If you don't then one person snaps another unsnaps.

It's when they mess around with these limitations people get pissed.

 

[Weevils]

If you can take the actual deity aspect out of the mythology which Disney won't touch, I'd be up for it. Although I think in order to somewhat ground the characters perhaps demigods would be a better character focus than the gods. You could include Greek, Roman and Celtic Marvel characters. Hercules and Cuchulain are pretty badass characters, and if the MCU continues to introduce higher tiered villains then it makes sense to introduce higher tiered heroes also.

 

[metaphysician]

Why exactly would anyone expect them to "take the deity aspect" out, when they already have a bunch of deities running around in the setting?

 

[Lilbaz]

Why exactly would anyone expect them to "take the deity aspect" out, when they already have a bunch of deities running around in the setting?

The olympians could have been "gods" before the asgardians. Odin conquered the 9 realms but who did he beat?

 

[metaphysician]

If they ever followed up on that angle, I'd prefer they use the elder gods as the "prior generation". They are weirder, less recognizable, and work better as dangerous and hostile forces. Besides, they'll probably want to bring Cytorrak into play at some point anyway.

 

[Lilbaz]

If they ever followed up on that angle, I'd prefer they use the elder gods as the "prior generation". They are weirder, less recognizable, and work better as dangerous and hostile forces. Besides, they'll probably want to bring Cytorrak into play at some point anyway.

Tbh haven't read a comic since the 90's so my knowledge is really lacking. The mcu has a great opportunity to pick and chose but fit it into a coherent history or cannon. I trust them to make something new that both works and is respectful of the source material. It will be different though.