From the moment they were introduced in the Marvel Comics pages in 1976 by Jack Kirby, the Eternals have been tied to a specific group of villains: the Deviants. These two races emerged from the experiments the Celestials ran on proto-humanity when they came to Earth millions of years ago, and have clashed on and off over the millennia. That conflict will be explored in a theatrical setting next month in Eternals, but there’s a specific Deviant villain who have a lot of time to shine in the spotlight, and there’s a mystery concerning his voice.
Back during the Eternals set visit in 2019, producer Nate Moore told CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell and other reporters in attendance about how just like in the comics, there are no two Deviants who look alike in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That said, in this continuity, when a Deviant kills a predator, it takes the shape of said predator. As such, Moore said we’ll see “bat-like Deviants,” a “wolf-like Deviant” and Deviants who look like all creatures from myth and legend and history. The producer then said the following about the Deviant known as Kro, who’s been part of Eternals lore since the beginning:
But in the modern day, the Deviants have evolved. And this is early concept (art) of Kro, who is a leader of the Deviants. He is the most intelligent of the Deviants. He is the only Deviant who can speak and that evolution will be one of the mysteries the Eternals have to uncover. Why is he able to do this? Why does he look humanoid when all the other demons, to some degree, are monstrous? He has these sort of incredible tendrils that can extend from his fingers and other parts of his bodies, and it becomes a real problem for the Eternals.
So among the Deviants, Kro is an anomaly with his ability to speak, humanoid appearance and those freaky tendrils. We caught a glimpse of Kro in the last Eternals trailer, but as Nate Moore shared, one of the movie’s big mysteries will be how Kro evolved this way. As for who’s voicing Kro in Eternals, Moore simply said the following when asked:
It’s somebody we think is super cool.
How curious! Traditionally know everyone who’s making up the main cast of a movie ahead of time, but in Kro’s case, Marvel Studios apparently wants to keep his voice actor a secret for now. Whether or not the identity of said actor leaks ahead of time or if we truly won’t learn who it is until Eternals’ credits roll remains to be seen, but my interest is definitely piqued on who was recruited to voice arguably the most famous Deviant. And as far as Kro’s unique physical characteristics go, since it’s practically guaranteed we’ll be seeing more of the Eternals in the years to come, I can’t help but wonder if an Eternals sequel or a separate Marvel Studios project will reveal either another Deviant who’s unique like him.
With the MCU’s Eternals having secretly lived on Earth for 7,000 years, their film debut will see them reuniting to protect humanity from the Deviants after the events of Avengers: Endgame reignite “the emergence.” The main players include Gemma Chan’s Sersi, Richard Madden’s Ikaris, Salma Hayek’s Ajak, Angelina Jolie’s Thena, Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo and Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, among many others. Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao directed Eternals and worked on the screenplay with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo and Kaz Firpo.
Eternals opens in theaters on November 5, and it collected $2.6 million in ticket sales during their first 24 hours of availability. Keep track of what else the MCU is sending to the silver screen with our upcoming Marvel movies guide.
