Marvel has never really been able to make the Eternals catch on. Neal Gaiman wasn't able to do it - hell, even Jack Kirby wasn't able to do it, and they were his baby! The Eternals are what he brought with him after coming back from creating the New Gods for DC (because even the deepest wells can sometimes run dry). They were created in 1976, a few years after the release of Chariots of the Gods - Erich von Däniken's book about how human myths were all based on alien visitors. So Kirby created an entire race of powerful, immortal beings who had been living among humanity for eons, guiding and protecting us, and whose names influenced the names of the mythological gods. Since the Eternals are obscure by any standard, these reviews are going to focus a little more on explaining and introducing the characters, and comparing them to their comic counterparts.
Moral, kind, and charismatic, Ikaris boasts incredible strength, flight, and the ability to project cosmic energy beams from his eyes.
Ikaris is the closest thing the Eternals have to a "main character" - he's not quite their leader, though he does have leadership qualities, but he's the one who's front and center in every new attempt to make people care. If you're wondering how "generic Superman combo platter" powers translated to "dummy flew too close to the sun," that was his (human) son: the boy loved flying with his father, so dad got him a set of mechanical wings; while he was off fighting his enemies, the kid grew worried and went looking for him, but was too inexperienced with the wings and passed out from lack of oxygen. When the Eternal came back and found his body, he renamed himself Ikaris, the child's name, in his honor.
In the comics, "Ike Harris" has blond hair styled like He-Man's, but in the movie he's played by a genetic clone of Sebastian Stan Richard Madden, who you don't recognize from any other thing any other time. We get an alternate head with yellow energy coming out of the eyes - something all the comic Eternals can do, not just him.
His comic costume is red and blue, with plenty of Kirby-ish details (discs, bands, jagged lines, etc.) The movie costumes are heavy on the detail, surpassing even the Shang-Chi outfits, but he's blue with fine gold lines, so it's hard to draw parallels between one and the other. The blue is a nice metallic shade, making him look advanced and otherworldly. The articulation is mostly standard, though he's new enough to have a balljointed chest instead of a hinge chest and a swivel waist. In addition to the alternate head, you get your choice of fists or relaxed hands, but no other accessories. Not even a piece of the Gilgamesh Build-A-Figure.
After so many "evil Superman" stories in recent years - Homelander, Omni-Man, Zack Snyder - it'd be nice to see one who's actually as heroic as he seems to be.
-- 11/01/21
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