Gemma Chan In Talks For Marvel's The Eternals

Gemma Chan is sticking with Marvel. 

The Captain Marvel actress is in talks to star in The Eternals, Variety has reported. 

Details on who Chan might play in the forthcoming superhero ensemble have not yet been confirmed, and Marvel Studios didn't offer any comment on her casting. Still, it seems like a done deal that Chan, who made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as the blue-skinned Kree warrior Minn-Erva opposite Brie Larson in Captain Marvel, will be joining the Eternals crew. 

And quite a crew it is. Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider filmmaker Chloé Zhao directs a dazzling group of actors for The Eternals: Angelina Jolie as Thena, an Eternal born in Olympia in ancient Greece; Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, a master swordsman who spent centuries learning the ways of the Samurai in Japan; Richard Madden as Ikaris, an Eternal who is "fueled by cosmic energy"; Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, an incredibly powerful and physically strong Eternal who is, in the comics, obsessed with locating an unidentified object or person; Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, who will be the first deaf superhero in the MCU; Lia McHugh as Sprite, a jokester and trickster whose playful nature offsets her immense powers; Don Lee as Gilgamesh, the Eternal who used to be known as Hero and Forgotten One; and Salma Hayek as Ajak, the leader of the Eternals. Chan may even join Keanu Reeves, who has been rumored to be in consideration for the flick. 

Based on the characters dreamt up by Jack Kirby in 1976, The Eternals centers on the titular race of immortal cosmic beings created by entities known as the Celestials, and their sinister counterparts, the Deviants. 

There's a chance that because Chan is already a part of the MCU, that she won't be swapping to a new character for The Eternals. She could reprise her role as Minn-Erva in the upcoming film, creating a bridge between the completed Phase 3 of Marvel's movie collection and the upcoming Phase 4, in which The Eternals is the second entry. Chan's performance as the thought-to-be-goodie Minn-Erva, who ended up being part of the real group of villains in the movie, was heralded by critics, and it makes sense that Marvel would want to bring her back for more in The Eternals. How exactly Minn-Erva might fight into the film's narrative is trickier to pin down, but considering she's spent her whole life on far-off planets and flying through the galaxies to defeat her enemies as part of the Kree Empire supervillain team Starforce, she would seemingly fit right in with the celestial creatures. 

However, sources close to Variety have claimed that Chan will take on "a completely different role" than Minn-Erva in The Eternals. The outlet cast some doubt on the intel, not stating that it was completely true, which indicates that there's a chance the opposite will happen. If it does end up being true, Chan will become one of the first actors to portray two totally different characters in the MCU. 

In any case, The Eternals is certainly a future MCU project to get hyped about. The film is set to hit theaters on November 6, 2020.