(L to R): Madden, Nanjiani, Ridloff, Henry, Hayek, McHugh, Lee, and Jolie •
Gemma Chan as
Sersi:An empathetic
Eternal with a strong connection to humanity and the Earth, who can manipulate and transform matter through physical contact. Sersi has been in love with Ikaris for centuries and has a strong connection with Sprite. In the present day, she is a
museum curator on Earth and dating Dane Whitman. Producer
Kevin Feige said Sersi was the lead character of the film. Director
Chloé Zhao said she and Chan were interested in creating the kind of nuanced female superhero that they felt was rarely seen in the genre, and Zhao felt Chan had imbued the character with gentleness, compassion, and vulnerability that would "invite viewers to rethink what it means to be heroic". Chan said Sersi was free-spirited and loved being around humans. •
Richard Madden as
Ikaris:A powerful Eternal who can fly and project cosmic energy beams from his eyes. Speaking to the relationship between Ikaris and Sersi, Madden said the fact that they had loved each other for centuries showed a "deep level of romance" between the two. They are on opposing sides of how the Eternals connect to the world, with Sersi having compassion for humans while Ikaris is more disconnected. The biggest struggle for Madden was showing that Ikaris has "seen everything and done everything" without the character coming across as bored. Zhao's take on Ikaris was influenced by director
Zack Snyder's
interpretation of
Superman in
Man of Steel (2013) which left a strong impression on her for its "authentic and very real" approach. •
Kumail Nanjiani as
Kingo:An Eternal who can create cosmic energy projectiles. Enamored with fame, Kingo becomes a popular
Bollywood film star to blend in on Earth. Nanjiani wanted to combine the wisecracking attitude of
John McClane from the
Die Hard film series with the look of Bollywood actor
Hrithik Roshan. He studied
Errol Flynn films and some of the original
Zorro films to emulate "old school Hollywood stars whose characters really enjoyed fighting". Nanjiani, who is not a dancer, grew up watching
Bollywood dances and spent several months training for the film's own such sequence in hopes of capturing the same energy and joy. He underwent rigorous fitness training to build muscle for the role, despite
Marvel Studios being happy for him to look "normal", because Nanjiani saw an opportunity to create a South Asian superhero with a comparable physique to Superman and
Thor. Nanjiani signed a contract to appear in six films, a video game, and a theme park ride. •
Lia McHugh as
Sprite:An Eternal who can project life-like illusions. Sprite is in a
permanent childlike state, appearing as a young girl despite being thousands of years old. The film explores her struggles with this, including her jealousy of humans who can grow old, know love, and have families. She has an unrequited love for Ikaris which Kingo compares to that of
Tinker Bell for
Peter Pan. Similarly,
Neil Gaiman and
John Romita Jr.'s
2006 Eternals comic book miniseries compared Sprite to the never-aging Peter Pan and gave them similar short, red hair, which the film also uses. The film ends with Sprite becoming human and being able to grow old. •
Brian Tyree Henry as
Phastos: An Eternal and an intelligent weapons and technology inventor. He is the first superhero to be depicted as gay in an MCU film. •
Lauren Ridloff as
Makkari:An Eternal who can move at superhuman speed. The character is the first deaf superhero in the MCU. After starting to run more in anticipation of the role, she shifted to muscle building to have "the symmetry of somebody who looks like a sprinter". •
Barry Keoghan as
Druig: An aloof Eternal who becomes frustrated with the inaction of the other Eternals in human affairs. He can manipulate the minds of others. •
Don Lee as
Gilgamesh:The strongest Eternal, with a deep connection to Thena. Lee pursued the role to be an inspiration to the younger generation as the first Korean superhero, and was able to use his boxing training for the role. •
Kit Harington as
Dane Whitman: A human who works at the
Natural History Museum in London as a history professor and is dating Sersi. •
Salma Hayek as
Ajak:The wise and spiritual leader of the Eternals, who has the ability to heal and is the "bridge" between the Eternals and the
Celestials. Changing the character from a man in the comics allowed Hayek to lean into Ajak's femininity and make her the "mother figure" of the Eternals. Hayek was initially hesitant to work with Marvel, assuming she would have a supporting or "grandmother" role. •
Angelina Jolie as
Thena:An elite warrior Eternal who can form any weapon out of cosmic energy and develops a close bond with Gilgamesh over the centuries. She also suffers from a psychological condition called
Mahd Wy'ry. Jolie trained with various swords, spears, and staffs for the role, as well as taking ballet. Additionally,
Bill Skarsgård provides the voice of
Kro, one of the
Deviants, and
David Kaye voices the Celestial
Arishem.
Harish Patel appears as Karun Patel, Kingo's human
valet;
Haaz Sleiman and Esai Daniel Cross respectively portray Phastos's husband Ben and son Jack; and
Zain Al Rafeea plays a villager who comes across the Eternals when they first arrive on Earth.
Harry Styles appears in the
mid-credits scene as
Eros / Starfox, the brother of MCU character
Thanos, while
Patton Oswalt voices Eros's assistant
Pip the Troll.
Mahershala Ali has an uncredited voice-only
cameo as
Blade in the post-credits scene ahead of starring in
a planned film for the character. == Production ==