The Deviants are currently the biggest mystery of Marvel's Eternals movie. Though the Deviants are the villains of the film, very little is known about how they'll be portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Most of the information that's been made available so far relates directly to the Eternals themselves. And considering that the Celestials - the god-like entities who created both races - have already been defined in the MCU, the Deviants represent the movie's greatest unknown factor.
The movie is based on characters created by legendary comic book writer and artist Jack Kirby in the late 1970s. In the Marvel Universe, the Eternals are lesser-known heroes who made only a limited number of appearances in the comics. Eternals, the second movie on Marvel's Phase 4 slate, is scheduled for a February 2021 release. Originally, the plan was for it to hit theaters in November 2020, but the Disney to reshuffle nearly its entire Phase 4 schedule.
Directed by Chloe Zhao, Eternals is set to introduce a whole new corner of the MCU with the debut of a race of super-powered, alien immortals who have secretly shared the Earth with humanity for thousands of years. Starring Angelina Jolie as Thena, Salma Hayek as Ajak, and more, Eternals will explore the MCU's distant past and dive into places like ancient Babylon, while also telling a story that takes place in the present day. Since no trailer has been released yet, there are a lot of unanswered questions about what the story of Eternals will actually entail, but by far its biggest mystery thus far is its villains. Why is Marvel making them such a big secret?
The Deviants In Marvel Comics
In Warlord Kro, was born with a mutation that allows him to live for thousands of years.
By custom, the Deviants always take the ugliest of them, the Mutates, and isolate them from the rest in order to remove them from the gene pool. The Deviants have long wished to evolve into something better, but it has yet to happen. Due to their looks, the Deviants have had to separate themselves from humanity by dwelling in underground cities filled with advanced technology. On occasion, however, the Deviants have emerged from their homes to plot against their old enemies, the Eternals. Typically, the Deviants are evil creatures who thirst for power, but there are some exceptions to this. Ransak the Reject (a Deviant who looks like a human) and Karkas are heroic Deviants who fight alongside the Eternals and other Marvel superheroes. It's also worth noting that Thanos - an Eternal - possesses the Deviant gene.
What We Know About The MCU's Deviants
The official synopsis for Eternals reveals that, in the movie, the Celestials will send the Eternals on a mission to fight "mankind's most ancient enemy", the Deviants. This description is interesting, because it differs a bit from the Deviants' comic book counterparts. In the comics, it would be more accurate to say that the Deviants are the Eternals' oldest enemies. The Deviants have attacked humans in the past, but most of their history is with their genetic cousins, the Eternals. Apparently, whatever the Deviants are up to in the movie will amount to an "unexpected tragedy" that forces the Eternals to take on the Deviants.
Who will play the Deviants in Eternals? A Warlord Kro has been possibly spoiled by a Funko Pop leak, but so far none of the Deviants have been officially revealed. It's not clear which Deviants will be in the movie. Not knowing which Deviants to expect makes it more difficult to know what to expect from them. What they're going to look like is also being kept under wraps, though Marvel Studios Kevin Feige has said that the Deviants will be receiving a redesign for the MCU.
Why The Deviants May Be A Secret
Why are the MCU's Deviants such a closely-guarded secret? First of all, the explanation for why there's no casting details about the Deviants could be related to how they'll be brought to life in the movie. It's possible that the Deviants will be created using only CGI. If so, these characters may only require voice-over roles. If that's the case, then the actors playing them wouldn't be required to be on set.
The fact that Marvel is redeg them could indicate that they may no longer have humanoid appearances. If Marvel is completely reinventing them, they may be saving their reveal for the Eternals trailer. It could be that the Deviants won't be anything like the ones featured in the comics. Marvel may be hiding the true nature of the Deviants, similar to what they did with the Elementals in Captain Marvel did with the Skrulls. A situation like this could unfold in Eternals. After all, Marvel does have a tendency to hide its real villains.
The Celestials, or perhaps even one of the Eternals, could emerge as the true antagonist of the movie. The movie could begin with the Eternals going after the Deviants, before they end up realizing that the real threat is someone much more dangerous than the Deviants. This idea wouldn't unprecedented in the comics, as the Eternals have certainly had their share of in-fighting, and the Celestials - who periodically visit the planet to judge whether or not it should be destroyed - represent a recurring threat to their continued existence.
More: Theory: Marvel Has Changed Eternals' Origins (To Avoid Clashing With X-Men)
