As we mentioned this morning when the new Disney film release schedule was unveiled, chances are that one of the two Marvel Cinematic Universe releases for next year will probably be The Eternals. Development on the upcoming comic book adaptation has been moving along rather nicely with critically acclaimed The Rider director Chloe Zhao set to helm from a script by the writing duo of Matthew and Ryan Firpo.
What’s more Oscar winner Angelina Jolie has been tapped to star, but she’s only been rumoured for one-half of the two leads in the film in the form of Sersi. Now we may just have gotten our answer as to who will be acting across from her as The Wrap reports that actor Richard Madden is currently in talks to join the production in a leading role.
Madden first shot to fame playing the ill-fated Robb Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones. After a series of not-exactly-high profile gigs, the 32-year old Scottish thesp struck it big last year though when his BBC/Netflix thriller series Bodyguard blew up worldwide and netted him a Golden Globe for his brilliant performance. The Eternals won’t be his first time working with Disney though as he actually played the charming Prince in the 2015 live-action remake of Cinderella.
For Eternals, he’ll be playing a very different character if the reports from Variety are true though as they’ve heard he’s been tapped for the role of Ikaris. Created in 1976 by the legendary Jack Kirby, The Eternals told of the titular race of beings who offshoots of prehistoric humanity who had been genetically manipulated by the Celestials (you know, those giant demi-god beings glimpsed in Guardians of the Galaxy) as part of an experiment. One half of the test subjects were turned in beautiful immortal superpowered beings known as the Eternals, while the other half became the twisted, war-like Deviants.
Both Ikaris and Sersi possessed a vast array of abilities, but Ikaris was special in his ability to fly while Sersi was able to manipulate matter. Both were part of writer Neil Gaiman’s 2007 relaunch of the Eternals and it’s believed that the movie will be taking most of its cues from this story. I say “most” because while that story – the Eternals previously had their memories altered to forget who they were and had been living among humanity this entire time until one of them starts to remember – is the perfect way to introduce these powerful beings, the movie will apparently add another love-story wrinkle to the mix, most likely focusing on Madden’s Ikaris and Jolie’s Sersi.
If The Eternals is the May 2020 Marvel release on Disney’s calendar, then we’ll more than likely be hearing about the rest of the film’s casting very, very soon. Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed in an investor’s conference call yesterday that details of the Marvel Phase 4 lineup will be revealed in the US summer, which makes San Diego Comic-Con or Disney’s D23 Expo the likeliest platforms.
Last Updated: May 9, 2019
