The Celestials are making a huge appearance in The Eternals, but what do Marvel Comics fans know about these mysterious cosmic beings?
The Celestials have made brief appearances in the MCU before, but the upcoming The Eternals movie promises much more of the mysterious and powerful cosmic entities. One of their number is glimpsed in the most recent trailer, indicating that their key role in the history of the Eternals in the comics will likely play out on screen.
Comic fans know the Celestials are among the most intriguing entities in the Marvel Universe, with a complex history largely woven by their creator, the legendary writer and artist Jack Kirby. Later writers and artists have contributed to their lore, increasing the mythology around them, but never dispelling their awesome mystique.
The true origin of the Celestials is something of a mystery. Among the most powerful cosmic beings in the Marvel Universe, the gigantic Celestials seemed beyond any kind of human comprehension. Some details have emerged over time, particularly from the Queen of Nevers, an entity that is the living embodiment of all possibility.
During The Ultimates series in 2017, she revealed that the Celestials are the creation of the First Firmament, a being who existed at the very beginning of time. A war between these beings shattered existence, eventually leading to the coalescing of the cosmic entity Eternity.
Uatu The Watcher presides over the many strange realities of the What If..? comic book series and now the MCU. The Watchers are traditionally passive, but once they did fight in a war against the Celestials.
This ancient war was revealed in Fantastic Four #400 from 1995. The two factions seemed naturally set up for conflict with the Celestials eternally interfering in the progress of worlds and the Watchers abiding non-interference. That oath ultimately prevented the Watchers from stopping the Celestials.
The greatest example of the Celestials interference is the Eternals. As told in The Eternals #1 from 1976, the cosmic beings arrived on ancient Earth and began doing genetic experiments on early mankind. This went on for a very long time and resulted in the creation of the Eternals, a god-like branch of the human tree.
Comic fans know the Eternals existed in near-anonymity from the rest of mankind for millions of years and only came out of hiding when the Celestials returned to Earth to pass judgment on their progress.
The Celestials returned to Earth during what they called The Second Host, an assessment of their efforts on Earth about 21,000 years before the present. They found another of their genetic products, the Deviants, had largely conquered the Earth. This led to a war between the Deviants and Eternals.
The Deviants were elevated forms of humans like the Eternals and were labeled as Deviants only because of their appearance, which tended to be more monstrous. The war was cataclysmic and led to the sinking of Atlantis, the home and kingdom of Namor the Sub-Mariner.
The Celestials would return periodically to Earth to assess the progress of their genetic creations. Each of these 'hosts' involved the cosmic beings approving of their progress, adjusting it, or in some cases, destroying it and starting over. The Third and Fourth Hosts were challenged by the Asgardians, along with Zuras, a member of the Eternals race.
The Celestials have also subjected other worlds to judgment in the comics. Thor witnessed the wholesale destruction of the planet Pangoria by Exitar the Exterminator.
Exitar the Exterminator is the muscle of one of the most powerful Celestials, Arishem The Judge. Arishem is the figure who presides over the judgment of worlds and their progress. He battled Odin, Zuras, and the forces of Asgard during the Fourth Host.
His intent to destroy Earth was only pacified by a peace offering from the Asgardians - the Young Gods, a group of perfect humans for him to study. He was not able to be stopped on Pangoria by Thor. Arishem could be the Celestial glimpsed in the new trailer for The Eternals.
The Skrulls are one of the most powerful intergalactic empires in the Marvel Universe, and like Earth, their ancient evolution was manipulated by the Celestials. History turned out different for them. Whereas on Earth all three branches - human, Eternal, and Deviant - more or less co-exist into the present, the modern-day Skrulls are the Deviant branch.
The other two variants of the species were completely eliminated, save for Kly'bn, an Eternal Skrull. Kly'bn is potentially a character who could appear in the Secret Invasion MCU series.
Fans of Guardians Of The Galaxy are likely familiar with Knowhere, the floating head of a Celestial in deep space. Knowhere functions much the same in the comics, as an intergalactic hub. The origins and purpose of this Celestial remain a mystery, though Knull the Symbiote God did claim credit.
Knull claimed to Venom that he had decapitated the Celestial in the past with the Necrosword, his powerful cosmic weapon. He then used the head as a base from which to generate more alien symbiotes.
The Celestials have enormous cosmic power, but they met their match in Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue from the Fantastic Four.
In a story arc beginning in issue #600 of the Fantastic Four, an adult Franklin comes from the future to warn the present-day version of the impending doom of the Mad Celestials. Franklin, who possesses reality-warping powers that can create entire universes, is able to fend off The Mad Celestials and even brings in Galactus to help him finish the job.
The Celestials are not a monolith and are susceptible to influence. They emerged at the beginning of the universe opposite beings known as the Horde. The Horde infected some Celestials, making them Dark Celestials, evil versions that hunt down and kill their own kind.
The Dark Celestials brought their war to Earth in Avengers #5 and #6 from 2018. As the remaining Celestials battle the Horde, a major revelation comes to light: the Celestials nurtured Earth specifically to see if a cure to the Horde infection would develop from their experiments on early humans.
