‘Eternals’: Will Robb Stark and Jon Snow fight over Sersi?

Marvel Studios has released the first trailer for “Eternals”, the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four movie that is bringing the immortal heroes from the comic books to the big screen.

I have high hopes for this MCU movie. Not only will it bring to life the epic heroes created by the legendary Jack Kirby in 1976, but also it is written and directed by Chloé Zhao, the Chinese filmmaker who recently made history by winning the Oscar for Best Director for “Nomadland”. Zhao became only the second woman to win an Oscar for Best Director — and the first non-white woman. And will you look at that star-studded cast? As a Game of Thrones fan, however, I’m also amused that in this movie, the Stark brothers will be fighting over Cersei, er, Sersi.

‘Eternals’ love triangle?

Richard Madden, who portrayed Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, plays Ikaris in “Eternals”. If you’re unfamiliar with the comic books, Ikaris is basically the Superman of the Eternals.

The trailer, which has Skeeter Davis’ “The End of the World” playing during the opening and ending, shows Ikaris with his comic book love interest Sersi, who is my favorite Eternal in the comic books, where she’s one of the most powerful of them. Gemma Chan plays Sersi, and this is actually the second time Chan is appearing in the MCU, as she was Minn-Erva in the 2019 “Captain Marvel” movie.

It’s clear that the scenes in trailer are jumping back and forth from the past and present of the MCU. One of these scenes shows Sersi with the human character that Kit Harington, best known for playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, portrays: Dane Whitman.

Comic book fans, of course, know exactly who Dane Whitman is, and that he is also romantically linked to Sersi.

Which is why I absolutely love this tweet by Fandom.

Diversity in the MCU

I love how Marvel Studios has made sure to get a diverse cast for “Eternals”, which will be the first to introduce an LGBTQ superhero in the MCU, the Eternal inventor Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry. It is also introducing the MCU’s first deaf superhero, the Eternal speedster Makkari, played by the deaf American actress Lauren Ridloff.

So expect toxic fans to slam Marvel for “forcing diversity down their throats” and changing the race and gender of some characters.

As for me, I’m glad to see this kind of representation in comic books and comic book movies, which are really the myths of our modern age. These kinds of toxic fans will always complain, like those who couldn’t accept that a Black man is now Captain America.

“In a very real sense, their relationship mirrors the racial politics of our contemporary moment, with Barnes’ growing consciousness of how Wilson’s initial refusal to accept Captain America’s shield connects to a larger national history of systemic racism that he remained barely aware of until now. The series effectively honors the generations of Black soldiers who served valiantly, since the nation’s founding, in every single war America has ever fought, only to be humiliated, shunned and sometimes physically assaulted for wearing the uniform back home.”

With Phase Four, the MCU is finally becoming more diverse. You have “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, the first MCU film with a predominantly Asian cast. The first Muslim superhero, the Pakistani-American Kamala Khan, who will be introduced in the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel” starring newcomer Iman Vellani, which has already completed production.

Why representation matters

So get used to it. Representation may not be important to you if you have always been represented in comic books, movies, and other media, but it’s important to those of us who are not white. This New York Times article explains why.

“All of these heroes are, in their own way, fighting for an equality that seems ever elusive. For Spellman, the opportunity to write stories about Black superheroes is part of a concerted effort to tip the scales.

“‘I absolutely believe that this helps re-contextualize us in a more universal way,’ he said. ‘If we are first and foremost perceived as less than, and I do believe that everybody on the planet looks at us that way, a superhero is greater than. That primal math, via a megaphone like Marvel — that’s powerful.’”

Here’s looking forward to an epic tale with the release of “Eternals”, and even more representation ahead in the MCU as it shares more stories that reflect the world we actually live in — a world of many different voices and beautiful colors.