Marvel movies will focus on villains like Doctor Doom rather than Arishem and the other Celestials.

Interestingly, though, a Celestial was introduced to the MCU long before Eternals. One of the MCU's strongest villains was dubbed a Celestial, yet was not linked to Eternals in any way. As such, Eternals' release caused somewhat of a continuity issue with this MCU villain as their story clashed with the reveal of the titular team and their Celestial counterparts. That said, a clever MCU theory has been hatched in order to tie the eight-year-old MCU villain to the story of the Celestials, making the former character fit more seamlessly into the MCU's wider scope than first thought.

An MCU Celestial Theory Makes Ego’s Motivations More Tragic

Guardians Of The Galaxy 2's Villain Ties To The Celestials

The MCU villain in question is Ego, the Celestial father of Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. When looking at Ego's story in Guardians 2 from the perspective of a post-Eternals MCU, some inconsistencies can be found; Ego's entire motivation is that he does not want to be alone, resulting in his warped plan to extend his own consciousness across the galaxy. However, Eternals raises the idea that Ego was never alone and that there were many other Celestials across the galaxy.

Although this reveal could be seen to clash with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the stories can fit together somewhat. In a way, Eternals' Celestial reveals can be seen to make Ego's story more tragic. The idea that he always thought he was alone despite there being other Celestials in the galaxy is quite disheartening. Similarly, his plan to overtake several planets that could house others like him, like Earth with the MCU Celestial known as Tiamut, could be positioned as heartbreaking as Ego is actively killing more of his kin without realizing it.

Ego’s Guardians 2 Plan Could Be Retconned To Make Him Even More Evil

Ego's Villainous Ways Could Be Bolstered By Eternals

All that said, Ego is a Marvel villain when all is said and done. While Eternals' developments can be construed to make Ego's story more tragic, there are ways that they can be viewed to make him even more evil and hypocritical. After all, Ego has many evil tendencies that are presented throughout Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Despite some of his motivations being sympathetic, he is very hypocritical and takes lives he deems beneath him with little to no remorse.

By the end of Guardians 2, Ego never cared about being alone but instead wanted to make a galaxy made up of his own consciousness. This makes him hypocritical anyway, and one of Marvel’s more terrifying villains, but the idea that Ego was specifically targeting planets on which the birth of a Celestial via an Emergence was due furthers this more so. Ego could have known about his Celestial counterparts and formulated his plan to stop their power. By taking over planets like Earth, Ego reduced the power of other Celestials while furthering his goal of having a hive-mind universe.

The Connection Between Guardians 2 & Eternals Is An Example Of MCU Continuity Done Right

As alluded to, each of these possibilities has been crafted to blend the story of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Eternals together. Of course, neither of these possibilities was crafted as fact by Marvel Studios, and Guardians 2's story was crafted without Eternals' introduction of the Celestials in mind. That said, the fact that it is possible to connect two disparate MCU properties with similar elements together is an example of how the MCU often gets retroactive continuity correct. It is difficult for a franchise as big as the MCU to stay consistent, but it often succeeds.

Both stories are disconnected but could easily be tied together by theorizing fans or the creatives of Marvel Studios themselves...

This scenario is one of the ways in which the MCU has done so. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 works as its own self-contained story but also as a larger part of the Infinity Saga. Similarly, Eternals tells a much bigger-scale story that works on its own while folding into the Multiverse Saga and a post-Avengers: Endgame franchise. Both stories are disconnected but could easily be tied together by theorizing fans or the creatives of Marvel Studios themselves if they so wished. This shows the benefits of the MCU’s retroactive continuity, as Eternals and Guardians 2 are connected years later.