Eternals’ big red robot celestial Arishem, explained by Marvel comics

Chloé Zhao’s EternalsThis movie has achieved something that no Marvel Cinematic Movie could boast of: it put a Celestial on screen.

Arishem, the Celestial, looms large Eternal In more than one way. What is the name of this huge robot space god, a big big big big big robot? What’s his plan for Earth? Marvel Comics even has space robot gods!

It can be traced back, as with many other stylish and inexplicable American comics things, to Jack Kirby. However, EternalsEach has their own opinion on Celestials. They are the mysterious cosmic creators of Marvel Comics Universe.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for Eternals.]

Image: Marvel Studios

Eternals’ Celestial is Arishem the Judge

Arishem, the Prime Celestial, looms large in Eternals as the movie’s primary antagonist — or at least the being to whom the main cast is subject to. He’s big, he’s powerful on a scale heretofore unseen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he created the Eternals and the Deviants.

Celestials in the MCU can create entire galaxies. Their size is measured in miles. The Celestials made the Eternals long before the Celestials did. They were meant to help manage sentient life’s growth on specific planets, while they were busy doing Celestial stuff.

Once an Eternal-guarded planet boasts enough sentient lifeforms on it, those lifeforms fuel the birth of a new Celestial from the planet’s core, and die. Then an older Celestial returns, collects that planet’s Eternals, wipes their memories, and ships them to a new assignment.

These characters are the essence of EternalsSersi (Ikaris), Kingo and other members were all assigned to aid humanity’s growth on Earth. However, most people didn’t know that they were actually helping prepare for the Celestial Tiamut to be born. After much ethical wrestling, Sersi’s faction was able to halt Tiamut’s ascension and save life on Earth — and Arishem was not too happy about it, promising to return to Earth later to judge forever whether humanity’s potential was really more valuable than one galaxy-building Celestial’s.

Is it possible that Celestials have been in the MCU at one time or another?

Marvel Cinematic Universe had previously experimented with the concept of Celestials, most notably in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1Knowhere is where most of the action happens. It’s a mine station built inside the skull of a deceased Celestial.

Image: Marvel Studios

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been muddy about what a Celestial looks like, and Ego the Living Planet was converted (not a Celestial as the comics say) to one of theirs.

Marvel Comics: How are Celestials portrayed?

The pages of his EternalKirby was the creator of Marvel Comics’ concept of giant metal space gods that create intelligent life on thousands and sometimes return millions of years later, to kill and judge sentient beings. No two are the same, but they’re all brilliantly colored, vaguely human-shaped, miles tall, and completely unknowable — even to their servants, the Eternals.

Kirby’s visual influence on comics is so complete that it can seem invisible, in the way you can’t technically see the air around you. Kirby made the most significant contributions to comic movie aesthetics, making it the best of all movies. Thor: RagnarokIt is the film that most closely reflects his unique aesthetic of kaleidoscope color, intricate patterns in bars and circles, as well as characters sporting truly unusual headgear.

Jack Kirby/Marvel Comics

But it is home to the strange, megazord-space gods. Eternals has hewed much closer to Jack Kirby’s original designs, though some things are different. Arishem’s personality is very different from the Celestials found in Marvel Comics. The comics show that not even an Eternal’s mind can understand the Celestials’ speech without damage.

Kirby’s Eternals — and one might argue, every Eternals title since — did not catch on. The Celestials made an appearance in Marvel Comics every time a planetary threat became apparent. The Celestials are an alienating, faceless and voiceless presence that is a metaphor for natural disaster, as well as a cosmic symbol. They often appear on planets to assess whether the inhabitants are prepared to absorb their energies or need more time to prepare.

That’s the role that EternalsFuture appearances by Arishem promise: Judgment Day at Clifford, the Big, Red Robot.