Eternals is the next big Marvel movie, an ambitious tale that spans millennia. It’s about a group of immortal do-gooders who have been defending Earth from the shadows for thousands of years. They spring into action when a new threat arises; and if they didn’t act when Thanos was making his play, you know it’s bad.
It’s an important movie for Marvel, but Game of Thrones fans are excited for another reason: Eternals will reunite long-sundered Stark brothers Robb Stark (Richard Madden) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington). Madden plays Ikaris, the leader of the Eternals, who can fly, use super strength, and shoot lasers from his eyes. Harington is Dane Whitman, aka the Black Knight, a medieval-themed superhero. (Typecast much?) Fans are eager to see them onscreen together again.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like the two characters have much screen time. “I’ve been friends with Kit for many, many years, and sadly we don’t get to do a lot in the film together,” Madden told Entertainment Weekly. “But I get to have one moment with him where we say hello, and it’s nice to be on set with someone you know and trust and have known for a long time. On set, it was kind of like hanging out with your friends, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, right, we’ve got to do acting now? Okay.'”
Part of me wonders if Madden is covering for something here, because Ikaris and Dane Whitman’s paths cross. Ikaris is in a centuries-long relationship with another Eternal named Sersi (Gemma Chan). But Sersi is dating Dane Whitman, a mortal. You’d figure that’s a conflict that needs to be hashed out between the characters.
Watch the first clip from Eternals!
We’ll learn more when the movie comes out. In the meantime, Madden explained what attracted him to the role in the first place:
"For me, it was the fascination of when you’ve got a character that’s thousands and thousands of years old, what is it about them that makes them want to keep living? What is it about the world around them that they find joy in?"
That does sound interesting, but once he was in, the role posed challenges to him as an actor. “It’s finding these moments of reality amongst laser eyes and fighting monsters and being thrown into rocks and upside down. These characters are superheroes, but they’re also souls, and they have really complex feelings and relationships that have spanned a long time. We tried to find the truth and honesty in those moments, while wearing superhero costumes and diving off cliffs and stuff.”
You can get an idea of what all the cliff-diving and laser eyes look like in the clip below:
“I’m flying all the time in the movie, I’m on these wires in the studio and in different locations,” Madden said of all that stuntwork. “It’s just very hard because you have to pretend like it’s effortless, when actually you’re in this kind of corset harness, and your legs are up here, and your blood’s all rushing to your head, and you have to swan in as if you’re really cool — and actually you’re screaming on the inside. having a friend to say, ‘Hey, does this look dumb?’ And they’ll say, ‘Yeah, you look like Peter Pan.'”
Eternals drops into theaters on November 5.
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