Eternals was a semi-reboot of a much older series that involved a small collection of people, about 100, that were genetically modified from the normal stock of humans back when man still lived in caves. These 100 immortals each had special gifts and a close connection to beings known as The Celestials. In fact, The Celestials were the race that made the Eternals what they were. They also gave humanity the nudge it needed to start developing into what it would become. They also created a third race called Deviants, a genetic mish-mash of a race that doesn't live long, but populates quickly and is cruel by nature.
Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.'s version of this story has the Eternals in a rather odd spot. It seems most of them have no memory of who or what they are. The story mostly follows Mark Curry, a medical school student who isn't having that good of a day. Not only did his girlfriend dump him, but he is seriously starting to question his desire to be a doctor. On top of that, a strange man approaches him to tell him he is a million years old, but doesn't remember this extraordinary detail about his life.
As the story unfolds, Curry starts to realize that something is missing in his life, and he starts to associate with a few other people who seem to have the same feeling. When a banquet gets attacked by masked men, Curry goes into some state where time seems to stand still. While the effect lasts, he collects the spray of bullets and the hostage-taker's guns, and tackles all of the would-be terrorists. This is the start of Curry remembering that he was an Eternal named Makkari.
The people around him start to remember as well. The banquet's party organizer; the government official that is throwing the banquet; one of Tony Stark's weapons designers; these are Eternals from Makkari's past and as they remember, they start to learn what caused them to forget in the first place. Even without their memories fully restored, their powers start to reveal themselves again, and it is with their new knowledge that they must stop some strange and sinister plot being devised by the Deviants and whoever is pulling their strings.
Before watching Marvel Knights Animation Presents Eternals, I had a passing knowledge of the Eternals and a vague memory of The Celestials, but this particular comic does a lot to remind Marvel fans of not only who the Eternals are, but how important their existence and The Celestials' interventions were in shaping the Marvel Universe to its current state.
The only special feature on Eternals is an interview with the comic's artist, John Romita Jr. as he talks about working with Gaiman, how the two collaborated on the project and his ideas of recapturing one of Jack Kirby's classic creations.
While Eternals doesn't feature one of the more core Marvel teams, it does bring to light a major part of the Marvel Universe's mythos, so while this DVD might not immediately catch your eye, if you have even a slightly scholarly bend to your views of this comic universe, then Marvel Knights Animation Presents Eternals might be worth watching.
