And so you should be you peon, 😉 Jk, I’m a hardcore Kirby fan but The Eternals just isn’t up there with Stan & Jack’s Fantastic Four and other works, but it’s still an interesting read IMHO at least up until the introduction of the robot Hulk towards-the end of the comic, ( the writing was pretty much on the wall then.)
As an anthropologist, and carrying all the baggage of what anthropology was, chariots of the gods is maybe my 3rd greatest enemy in life. Not only is it nonsensical, but more so its entirely diminished the abilities and creations of cultures throughout the world as nothing more than aliens did it for them. It writes off real peoples entire lives and works as nothing more than "an alien did it". That all said this episode is wonderful, and your use of Leapt vs leaped made my day.
Are the top two Indiana Jones and bad faith questions by people weirdly profoundly against evolution and the basic fundamentals of history and biology?
@@BlazenAva666 Did you expect every CZcams comment to add some meaningful information? What does your comment add to the conversation? He just wanted to share his similar perspective as an anthropologist as this topic is very closely related to him.
what i find so funny about the saqqara bird thing is that they immediately assumed that it was influenced by aliens instead of coming to the conclusion that maybe just maybe Egyptians a culture that worshiped bird deities and commonly used birds for hunting and sport had a basic understanding of aerodynamics from watching how birds do what they do
Right, like their "proof" for it being an airplane model was that (with additional airplane parts) it could fly. And it's like, you know what else can fly, Ancient Aliens? A BIRD.
Yeah, but you hit the nail on the head right there. The ancient Egyptians worshipped bird deities, and in Ancient Astronaut shit, all deities were actually aliens. So, if a culture that worshipped bird deities built bird sculptures, they must have been related to the aliens
What's also funny is that a lot of airplanes designs themselves are inspired by birds. Humans are inspired to create things through observations of nature all the time. There's literally a word called "biomimicry" for this exact phenomenon. Like ;jkvwjq bro. It's not that these bird toys look suspiciously like planes. It's more like. Planes tend to look suspiciously like birds. Because a lot of planes. Were designed after real-life birds ;zkvwm;
Well, working in the current US public education system, I can tell you they're killing two birds with one dollar. I hope to see it decentralized and soon.
I discovered Chariots of the Gods when I was around 12 or so in the early 80s. It really made me scratch my head. "Adults are making fun of me for reading comics, and adults believe in this stuff?" I've evolved that initial question over the years, and I've made my peace with it. That was a great shot of your garbage can bee the dubs.
I came here to learn about the eternals comics and was pleasantly surprised. From a frustrated Egyptian, thank you for defending our cultures and raising awareness.
NerdSync: “I’m not calling you a fool for believing any of this” Me: You know what I feel like a fool for? Believing this video was actually about the eternals comics….
As soon as I saw the title for this video I thought "That doesn't sound like a Nerdsync topic." Then I watched the video and it started making a lot more sense. lol And what we got was a lot more interesting than just complaining about how bad Eternals is.
I can't believe how dumb this video is. Sorry but I *have to* rant. This guy thinks we're so stupid that he has to "debunk" ancient aliens theories! Not only that, he judges a comic "bad" because it's based on a fictional premise, like, I don't know, Star Wars. I guess Darth Vader has been a historical figure. Meanwhile, he himself bought into the "ancient aliens it's due to racism" conspiracy theory. Unbelievable
I mean this was entertaining, but it's not really an examination why the comics are bad. Ancient Aliens is obviously pretty dumb. But it works as a premise for comic books. It also worked for Stargate. That doesn't mean you have to accept it as real.
Also, in Lost in Space and Star Trek as they encounter Thor, Valkyrie and Chronos on Lost in Space and Romulans similar to Romans on Star Trek also Apollo the Greek God of light. Also other episodes of advanced technology and civilizations pretending to be gods including Terlane and The Q.
I would like to say that although the video makes it very clear, Kirby was never a racist. His life contained a lot of prejudices and not always friendly environments, and the guy presented diverse characters for both companies. Gabe Jones in the howling commandos, black skinned pioneers in New gods like Vykin or Black racer, and how to forget the black panther. The list does not end there, but the truth is that Kirby based his stories on the most interesting part and that makes a story worth telling, and not the ugly and racist part. The other half of Eternals is very cool mythology inspiration, and I think that mixing the two concepts in a story in which it is always clear that it is fiction and leaves aside the discriminatory approach, taking place more with the Celestial makes room for a good story .
Yes, for sure. Marvel Comics is a land where Thor is a real person, sorcery exists, radioactivity equals superpowers, and an ancient Pharaoh was actually a time traveling from the 31st century. I know Eternals wasn't originally part of the main MU, but it's regardless pretty obvious that he wasn't claiming this to be fact. (And who knows if he even recognized the racism -- I honestly had never considered it until just now, so it's easy to overlook.)
The guy also loved nothing more than punching nazis. Kirby was calling out the shit Hitler was doing with Captain America well before The United States even joined World War 2.
This is honestly my only real problem with this video. Like I get that the story line of going from a simple comic topic to this whole thing about politics and history is why we all subscribed to this channel. I still think that the place we stared and the place we ended up are so very different that equating them seems a little off to me. Like he said he doesn’t think liking the eternals means you’re a racist conspiracy theorist, which is both an obvious statement and a necessary clarification, and that’s good. Still these kind of things kinda rub me the wrong way.
I have genuinely no idea how to make it clear conspiracy theory inspired fiction IS just all fictional when there's a cult based around hp lovecraft's works, believing it to be real and do 'spells' with his literature. there's been other people believing in wack shit based around other pieces of modern media too - and even way more niche works - but that's the best example I've got of this dilemma I have as a writer myself, it feels like a very thin tight rope
I just don’t care for the Eternals. Kirby loves giant god superpowered monarchs and civilizations while I like Lee’s down to earth relatable idea of superheroes. Kirby and Lee are perfect together because they can use their strengths and cut out the fat (Most of the time)
I'm Peruvian. Thank you for showing me the dude that put in the world's mind the idea that my ancestors weren't intelligent enough to do stuff. Now I know where to direct my anger.
The way most people view history is pretty skewed. People in the past weren't DUMBER than people today. They didn't know as much as we currently know about science or medicine, sure, but when they saw things in front of them, they described them. They didn't get weird and abstract: if someone had seen an airplane, they would've called it a giant flying hunk of metal, not a "weird bird".
I don’t think they would, though. That’s probably a bad example. How would you know it’s metal? It’s basically just a tiny silhouette when looked at from the ground.
OH MY GOD the whole time I was watching the Eternals I was like "This is just like 'It's Probably not Aliens' but the opposite" so I'm glad we got the Probz Podz gang tackling the Eternals
I don't think that Eternals is a morally bad story for doing that tho? We don't call Captain America "revisionist history", we know he's made up, and this is an alternative history. Same applies to Eternals. Especially since Jack Kirby didn't really believed that stuff and only used it as inspiration for his clearly fictional and not trying to convince anyone it's real story.
The Eternals movie "SUCKED" because it was an insult to the comic and anyone who actually liked it were people who knew absolutely nothing about the comic or it's characters but I don't hold that against them because the MCU is mostly aimed at people who know nothing about Marvel Comics characters.
I'm always moved by that clip of Oppenheimer, you can see the palpable disillusionment and horror in his expression, in trying to make an unimaginable power for good, he inadvertently made one for evil
So this video has nothing to do with the Eternals comics being bad, it’s about the conspiracy theory behind it being bad. I agree that Ancient Alien theories are bad, but a piece of science fiction being inspired by it isn’t inherently in the wrong. Just because the book Journey to the Center of the Earth is based on Hollow Earth theory, that doesn’t mean that the fictional book is in the wrong. Conspiracy theories, as dumb as they are, can make for fun sci fi premises. As long as readers are aware that it’s fiction, I don’t see a problem with it.
Yeah, I saw the the same kind of critique of Godzilla vs. Kong floating around when that came out, because the Earth is hollow in that too. Like, yeah, we know that Hollow Earth Theory is bogus. This is a movie about a giant radioactive lizard fighting the last battle in a millennia-old conflict between its species and a race of giant gorillas.
I had already dismissed Von Daniken by the time The Eternals came out (I was 21.) I never took it seriously, but Damnit, Chariot of the Gods was a great premise for an action comic book! It was no more implausible than, say, a kingdom of dinosaurs on Antarctica or a city-state of talking gorillas in Africa or an asteroid orbiting the earth like a moon inhabited by a mutant with electromagnetic powers because, Comics!
It's so hilarious how every time the Ancient Aliens writers run out of ideas they just said “fuck it, let's turn any mundane archeological object into a fucking airplane" and showed that as proof of historical aliens.
I don't really see the issue with Jack Kirby's Eternals run, because it's very clearly meant to be looked at as fiction, meanwhile Ancient Aliens try to make their claims come of as facts Great video though
I've read the interview of Kirby somewhere that he never really took wacky theories or conspiracies seriously but if those theories sound interesting to him, he can't help but incorporate in his stories, so I think Chariot of God was also part of that process. he just imagined what if regarding ancient aliens and thought "hm that sounds interesting"
This is honestly why I've gotten away from using a lot of History and Discovery Channel videos in my highschool history class. Their embracing of the popular and conspiratorial over statistical and rigorous science really bothers me. I also teach Psychology, and really try to defend the concept of true skepticism for my students.
i honestly wanted to know what made the eternals comics bad,but honestly this video felt like it was mostly about ancient aliens and jack kirby. Like damn man did the comics have some crazy terrible plotlines or something? was it boring? It feels like this 40 minute video had like 5 minutes of actual content about the comic
Let's take a moment to give the comics some credit. Kirby took this very popular "theory" that was steeped in racist beliefs that all non-Eurpoean civilizations needed aliens to create them. Then, he pivoted the Eternals to focus on European myths. I don't know if this was active anti-racism on his part (it probably wasn't; might just be because he knew more about European myths) but it's one thing I really appreciate about the Eternals nonetheless.
He was certainly actively anti-racist, and was on the ground floor of eventually turning the whitest people of all's gods into space opera by helping create The Mighty Thor, which eventually went full ancient astronauts.
Personally the looming shot of Arishem in deep space and the shot of this wall of Eternals memories really stuck with me. The former because it shows Arishem's power dynamic with Sersi without saying a single word, beautifully showing the power any Celestial holds over the already inhumanely powerful Eternals and the second due to the story implications. And obviously both are very visually striking just in general.
@@mercurywoodrose Right... I still think those shots looked amazing. Never said they were better than Kirby's drawings. I actually didn't even mention Kirby at all. So I don't know what you're on about here.
The one question that I ask ancient astronaut whackos is "If an advanced species came to ancient earth and made all these pyramids and such...why didn't they use cement?"
Scott: "A dollar made educating you and a dollar made manipulating you are worth exactly the same" Me, with an incredibly huge brain: yes, they are worth a dollar
as a hispanic i do love you calling out that all the weird alien shyte is only when we figure something out. truth is theres so much proof that indigenous civilizations had waaaay more engineering skills than previously thought and that artistic expression is a natural part of all humans.
Indeed, is amazing how those monkeys managed to have a civilization 4.000 years outdated instead of 10.000! Tho, nowadays they still show their inferiority...
Wait, didn't aliens already make the inhumans so this is "third times the charm" for Jack Kirby when it comes to aliens and gods? Also in the MCU Thor is an ancient astronaut so...
I came here to learn about Kirby's Eternals comics, not the Ancient Aliens show. I've seen debunks of that show on other CZcams channels, and in Community College, I also have eyes... It's necessary to talk about Chariot Of The Gods for context, and explain that Kirby was taking from a foundationally racist theory that he didn't seem to actually believe in - I'm with you that far... But that's where your coverage of the comic ends. Did Kirby build anything on top of that foundation? Did he use his comic to question or reinforce these ideas? Did the comics embrace these ancient cultures in creating its cosmic heroes? Did he wind up telling worthwhile stories? I have no idea, cause you spent so much more time talking about The History Channel. DUDE! I love your channel, I think it's wonderful and I've watched most of it. But this time I feel frustrated.
I feel the same man. I'm a big Kirby fan and thought maybe he had a different perspective of the comic and maybe show that even though he thought it aged bad (in his opinion) but still appreciated it on some level at some point in the video; he spent 40 mins about a subject he could have made a separate video about. In my mind he pulled the same shit that he just criticized the History Channel for doing. What dose Ancient Aliens being a crap show have to do with the quality of Jack's Eternals book? It's a fine video but he didn't have to drag Jack Kirby's name/work into it to make a point.
@@nathangarcia7921 As a debunk of Ancient Aliens, it's not bad. A little repetitive of Quinton Reviews (who did a 3 parter of History Channel vids) but funny and well done. Just wish it wasn't a bait and switch.
Well, I mean, at the heart of Eternals was the interracial relationship between Kro and Thena. Kirby's Kro wasn't the sanitized version of some later comics, but he clearly had much in him to admire and I think a majority of readers were probably rooting for him in the comic. And of course, later on, in the Simonson maxi-series for example, he basically became the outright protagonist of the series, along with Thena.
I guess my point is that Kro and Thena is an interracial romance and that is the heart of The Eternals story. So it doesn't really seem like it can be reduced so easily to a racist narrative.
@@kforcer Kirby also explicitly made the Eternals inspiration for European mythology too from the get go, so he cut the potential racist implication off at the root.
No it isn't. Its a thinly disguised rant about ancient alien theory. Like if you want to talk about ancient alien theory, talk about ancient alien theory, don't trick us with the eternals, artists are allowed to explore ideas that they may not endorse or agree with.
@@lavabite Also the whole thing about Alien theory being racist just had me scratching my head. Said so in the same breath he mentioned they talk about Stonehenge too. Just seemed like a stretch. Only part that had merit in that section is the theory that black people are a failed experiment, he should have started with that instead of just throwing it aside to say things that aren't racist are racist.
Yes. I enjoy the Kirby run on Eternals on art alone. It jumps off the page. It's like strolling thru an art gallery which also happens to be telling a narrative.
@@solonvergara207 Characterization. X-Men are amazing, Inhumans have interesting ideas but only mildly interesting characters, and Eternals are painfully dull IMO
Juan Sanchez eternal only have Thanos to make them interesting and maybe Gilgamesh and sersi because they did they are the most powerful ones and they have a rich history with the avengers
I recommend the old episode of Nova, "The Case For Ancient Astronauts" where they blow apart each and every theory Van Daniken put forth, capping the whole thing with Tor Heyerdahl getting together with the natives of Easter Island and putting up their own statue.
The connection between Jack Kirby's The Eternals and Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods is interesting, but linking them together like this is annoying. It's not fair to say that Kirby thought or agreed with von Däniken's work (I know you're not, and I admire you putting in the clip of Kirby talking about his scepticism on the subject), but there's something off about conflating The Eternals with Chariots of the Gods. Chariots was a massively influential book during a time of chemical expansion and radical free thought, very much a product of its time. It's unfair to think of Kirby's use of it in his own work is more than "this is a cool idea for a comic". Chariots was designed strangely, like there was a backdoor to its stupid questions; almost like: "idk man, I'm just asking is all". It seems very firebrand-y. Whereas The Eternals' only goal was to provide some kind of entertainment for sci-fi comic nerds, not to openly challenge the audience's understanding of well established facts about world history. In short, you're kind of a meanie for this one, but you're bang on about everything Scooby-Doo.
@@directorforplastic7929 because the movie explicitly equates Therna with Athena and Ikarus with Icarus and yet when it comes to the character obviously meant to be Mercury, they not only completely ignored the connection, but genderflipped it. Either do that and don’t play up the mythic connections or don’t do it. But the way they handled it made it just awkward forced diversity and left my asking why the mythological Mercury was male (and presumably not deaf). They didn’t even address it. This was a problem.
@@TrekBeatTK In the MCU the Romans could’ve easily gender-flipped her to fit either their narrative or what they thought they saw. Stories easily get adjusted, changed, or misremembered as time goes on
@@TrekBeatTK …? That makes no sense lol. Thena is the god A-Thena, dubbed the goddess of war simply because she could summon weapons. Ikarus is a non godly mythological character who, in “reality”, had powers. Their names are both spelled wrong, their presence worked into myths in a completely abstractulised way. Why is Makari, a character many of the ancient people likely never got a good look at due to her speed, such a problem? Why would it be weird for Greek culture to gender flip her, given that they were a male dominated society? Why is there a problem with her, but not with Ajak? Phastos and Hephaestus are wildly different too. You went into this movie looking for a thing to be mad about because you think that diversity is being forced, but people of all colours and genders and sexualities have always existed. Sorry that I’m the one to break it to you I guess.
Kirby was telling ancient alien stories long before New Gods and Eternals. Sept 1958 - Race for the Moon #2 has a 5 page Kirby story "The Face on Mars". Sure, Eternals was Kirby's version of Chariots of the Gods, but Kirby already thought of that 20 years earlier.
This was the most entertaining bait-and-switch youtube video I ever watched. I ain't even mad. But please actually make a video about the Eternals comic books now, I genuinely am interested to see if Jack Kirby's interpretation of the ancient aliens theory added anything new or interesting to the concept and if it had any lasting influence on the rest of the marvel universe.
It did have lasting influence on the Marvel universe, although the story behind that is interesting. Kirby didn't want Eternals to be canon to the Marvel universe, but the higher-ups later overruled him. So the Celestials became a recurring species/concept in the comics, which you can see the influence of in the GOTG movies, and the origin for humanity in Jack Kirby's Eternals became the definitive version of it in the Marvel canon. It was also later tied in with things like the mutants, with the Celestials intentionally giving humans the potential for mutations and such.
Yeah, I can agree that the Eternals comic books are just... weird. I've read the first several issues of Kirby's original run, and Neil Gaiman's run from the 2000s. Gaiman's run was OK, but it was still the Eternals with all the baggage, which really really just holds the whole thing down. I really like the _concept_ of what Kirby kept trying to go for with his Alien Space Gods ideas that he kept revisiting, starting with Galactus himself, then with the New Gods of Darkseid and Orion over at DC, and finally with the creators of the Eternals, the Celestials, after he went back to Marvel, which were all Kirby's attempts at exploring his Erich von Däniken-style "Chariots of the Gods"/Ancient Astronauts ideas that ancient mankind's legends of gods were actually based on alien beings who came to Earth, and primitive mankind could only interpret them in terms of being gods. I have to admit that I am fascinated by that stuff (in a purely fictional setting, of course... that stuff has absolutely _no_ basis in reality.) Now, the _real_ reason why I find the idea so fascinating is because I am a Lovecraft fanatic, and I could always just _feel_ how much the entire concept was ripped straight from Lovecraft, even before I found out that was the actual case. A few years ago I read a great article I stumbled across on the Internet all about how von Däniken got all the entire idea for "Chariots of the Gods?" straight from reading old copies of Lovecraft stories that he stumbled across on a train or something while he was busy pulling off one of the many, _many_ con jobs he was involved in (von Däniken was a _notorious_ conman across Europe... little surprise that he went from pulling small con games to a big one selling ancient astronaut ideas. So many founders of "new religious movements" were notorious flim-flam artists before founding their "new religions", from L. Ron Hubbard being involved in scams with occult groups in the 40s and purposefully building Dianetics into a religious movement so he could use it as a way to dodge taxes, all the way back to Joseph Smith running treasure-hunting scams where he bilked investors with fake treasure-finding expeditions where he claimed he could use his magic divinatory "seeing stones" to find buried gold in New York State in the mid-1800s, before he formed the Mormon church. It's pretty funny how he went from running con artist scams using "Magic Seeing Stones" to find fake buried treasure, to founding a religion using "Holy Seeing Stones" that allowed him to be the _only one_ who could translate the "Golden Tablets" he claimed to have found buried somewhere.) Huh... after just now trying to search Google for that old article I read years ago about von Daniken and Lovecraft, it now appears there are _tons_ of articles out there talking about how the whole idea of Ancient Aliens came from Lovecraft's works. I just guess more people have been catching on to it, what with Lovecraft becoming more popular than ever over the past few years.
I wrote my dissertation on Lovecraft for my degree in English Literature - while he wasn't the first fiction writer to have the "what if extraterrestrials planted humans," idea, he was the first to really explore how frightening that concept is and how deeply unsettling and earth-shattering it could be.
The irony of being attached to Daniken's Anciet Aliens via Lovecraft is that Lovecraft was also seriously racist and biased against 'others'. Not making any assumptions about you, just saying that's quite the coincidence
@@MystiqMiu And here we go, the ubiquitous "Lovecraft was a racist" comment. "Quite the coincidence" but yet you're "not making any assumptions about me?" Go to Hell. I know that it's become the standard fashionable thing to claim that Lovecraft was an _extreme racist_ even for his time, and he certainly _was_ a racist, no question at all, he wasn't "extreme even for his time." Lovecraft was a bog standard white New England racist of the late 1800s/early 1900s. The only thing that was different about Lovecraft is that he left behind hundreds of letters which documented his views, while most other people didn't, _and_ Lovecraft had quite a few friends among the groups he was racist against (even _marrying_ a Jewish woman) who left us with comments about his beliefs. If we had had such extensive documentation on the attitudes of any other random white New Englander of the time they would have been absolutely no different than him. Trying to claim that Lovecraft was "an extreme racist even for his time" is actually totally whitewashing the extant of racism that existed then, and is offensive. You just cannot judge people who lived a century or more ago against the attitudes of people today, any historian will tell you that. I'm sorry to have to inform everyone about this, but if you go back in time 100 years or more, _everyone is racist_ compared to today. Shakespeare was absolutely racist. Every great artist, philosopher, painter, sculpter, writer... they were all _horribly racist._ Human beings are flawed and messy creatures, most especially artists, and if you're going to limit the art you appreciate to only that created by artists who pass some kind of purity test, you're going to be left with nothing.
@@MystiqMiu Lovecraft become much more progressive as he aged. At The Mountains of Madness was written around the time that he started disowning his previous beliefs. Note that the story is fundamentally about a society which was destroyed for its use of slaves, and also that it was an "ancient aliens" story without attributing any historical creations to the fictional aliens.
If you read "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" HPL actually goes into a lot of stuff that seems to come up much later as part of psychedelic/new-age writings too.
Just going by the title, I couldn’t agree more! Well before the movie came out I never liked the books. But I still only read the Gaiman stuff, not any of the silver or bronze age stuff yet.
gaiman's book is what the movie is largely based on minus all the changes to characters apperances and relationships but the whole mind wipes stuff and multiple bodies and the great machine is all from him. i personally like his stuff BUT the original is better
I am reading a Gaiman Eternals book right now and I'm half way through, it's been pretty good. Have definitely read worse marvel comics. I havent seen the movie though so I dont know if its good
Kind of a bummer this episode wasn't really about the Eternals comic, or whether it was a good story. But I am all about debunking garbage conspiracy theories. So I guess it's a wash.
Good video, but I have some criticism. This might be due to my familiarity with the topic as a historian, but the video was kind of repetitive. I already know ancient alien theories are racist, and I would have been more interested to know how the work of fiction uses and adapts its source material and what kind of effect that had on conspiracy theories irl, if any.
I've had knowledge of the Ancient Aliens show and how the Eternals essentially have that basic concept as well but I never knew about "Chariot of the Gods?" and how they both stemmed from it. I also didn't about how the idea itself based on racism and it changed my whole outlook on how I'll view the idea of Ancient Astronauts in the future. My guess is that it might come of as repetitive when you already know about the subject, but it doesn't if you haven't.
@@KiraNightV yeah agreed, my only connection to the concept was knowing the history Channel has a dumb show. Had no idea it was mostly sparked due to one dudes book that got surprisingly popular. I did already understand the racist elements as, when you say a culture didn't do something for themselves you are already stepping into the territory.
Okay so this wasn't about the eternals comics being bad, you barely touched on it. This was about the so-called science of ancient aliens and it being an obvious influence on the eternals. I was expecting a video on why the comics were bad based on the title of the video, not a video on the spurious logic of ancient alien conspiracies.
I think the one visual I can really say stuck with me from the movie was SPOILERS IF YOU CARE When we see the Celestial loom over London before he snatches up Gemma Chan and the Gang. But even then that was more for the imagery of Galactus that it was reminiscent of than it in and of itself. But regardless of reason, I did think it looked cool.
I honestly wonder how much they'll handle Silver Surfer and Galactus in the MCU, since Eternals (the movie at least) deals with a lot of the same theme and imagery. Galactus and the Celestials are both different stand ins for "God" so I guess overlap is expected. I'm just still waiting for that concept art of the Celestials walking on earth, their legs above the clouds, to be on the big screen.
While one of my favorite sci-fi franchises may have been inspired by Chariot of the Gods I love a good take down of the ancient aliens crap. It’s an interesting story idea but it’s too problematic when taken seriously beyond works of fiction..
using ancient aliens fantasies as the foundation for Eternals doesn’t make Eternals bad. The lack of any idea as to how to resolve the storyline is what makes it bad.
I used to consume a lot of paranormal content, and then one day I was watching one of those shows on the History Channel and thought "This guy has no idea what he's talking about". That was the day I became a skeptic.
The big different about the eternals though is that it was always meant to be fiction. There is absalutly no way that marvel is trying to convince us that the eternals are real.
History channel actually had another show that I used to really enjoy back in the time when whole shows could be watched in CZcams, called ancient discoveries. It had a bit of the same crackpot pseudo archeology of ancient aliens, but mostly actual archeology presented by actual archeologists and historians that was simply exaggerated a bit by the narration. However the conclusion of the show wasn't 'therefore aliens', it was 'therefore ancient people are awesome!', and it didn't oppose "mainstream scientists", but rather modern eurocentric misconceptions about ancient people being "primitive". It still had some leaps of logic and bad methodology for the sake of sensation, but not too much, and free of racism...
Scott: "I'm not saying if you like the Eternals that means you're a bad person" Ancient alien conclusion: If you like Eternals you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT be a bad person. THAT'S SPOOKY!
Kind of funny that because of Eternals the Marvel universe has both ancient astronaut theory being true, but also most mythologies literally happened the exact way they were described.
They should have just kept the Eternals separate from the Marvel universe the way Kirby intended and initially did. They just had to incorporate the MU to boost sales.
As an Asian person, I don’t think the idea of alien astronauts is inherently racist even if the people who are responsible for spreading the idea into the mainstream were or are racist. It’s just an inherently cool idea especially if treated the way it should be, as a wacky theory that shouldn’t be entirely dismissed but should also be given zero credibility. If anything the lack of application of “alien theory” to western cultures is simply indicative of how boring most western mythologies are. With the exception of Norse and Greek mythologies, there’s not much to apply alien theories on, especially since white people essentially invented things like firearms and cannons so they could kill each other more efficiently. I don’t get why Kirby putting these cool ideas into his comics makes the eternals comics bad, he even goes through the effort to apply this alien theory to Greek mythology, a very obviously white and European mythology. Just because he was inspired by “Chariots” doesn’t mean the idea of alien astronauts is inherently racist, von Daniken doesn’t have a monopoly on alien theories lol, in fact he stole most of his ideas from already existing literature. For example Nazi scientists was responsible for some minor breakthroughs in science, but just because they were monsters doesn’t mean that the science they founded was inherently evil. Don’t give the racists too much credit it ruins the ideas they’re associated with, even if the ideas themselves aren’t inherently racist. For the record, I don’t believe in alien astronauts at all, I just think it makes for cool literature.
"For example Nazi scientists was responsible for some minor breakthroughs in science, but just because they were monsters doesn’t mean that the science they founded was inherently evil." That just invalidated everything else you had to say, sorry.
@Dolly that you cannot separate the science from the scientists says volumes about you. We can assume you'll stop using your GPS, or any other item that owes its existence to NASA and its ability to put items in space, and campaign against medical care for hypothermia, hypoxia, dehydration, or opiate addiction since they owe much of their existence to research ( often unethical) or development done by the Nazis. No science is inherently evil, just sometimes the people and the methods used to collect that evidence are.
This video did not explain why the Eternals comics are bad, it only explained why its inspirations were bad, which is not the same thing, its inspirations were sold as legitimate science when Eternals was always sold as a fictional comic book for kids..
It's kind of exciting watching this after listening to the podcast, like finding out that the next book you need to read for school is one you just finished and you get to be all smug about it.
Also crazy how much scientology get from the whole ancient alien stuff. The whole nuclear war stuff in ancient times. In scientology it freed the alien spirit from the volcanos or what not...
I knew this video was coming, Kirby made galactic, Alien, evolved hymn families have never succeeded past his original conception. (I’m looking at you Inhumans)
Coming from a religious, as well as a education valued household, I would always be excited when people would talk about the possibility of alien life or heck any sci-fi topic having the credible possibility to exist in one form or another in our world. Of course I understand that fanaticism can lead one to forget and ignore the real life feats and accomplishments, as well as horrors, that humans have achieved throughout it’s complicated history on this rock and possibly beyond. On the artistry side of things, the Eternals movie could’ve been done really well if it wasn’t just put in the rusty MCU meat grinder of movie making that the general public is starting to get tired off, while also ignoring the vibrant and interesting cultures that this premise could’ve exceeded that if they celebrated that in its design and execution. And in pertaining to that last nugget? I agree that knowledge, just like any form of power, can be tainted depending on how it’s used.
i see the common view when talking about this stuff is that it's racism through calling others useless, but i'm glad you gave the clarity that it's at least unintended on the hand of the believers i personally think the idea that it's a form of racism falls to just an accidental implication, made by the fact when making wild theories it's just harder to target things you already know about and understand just through osmosis, it's a lot less mystical and you can't question something when you already know the answer, but when you have something that you've never heard of, that's miles away, and you know absolutely nothing about, at that point it becomes so easy for someone if they want to, to impart their own desires for something greater to be out there, because to some it's not really that cool for the answer to just be more of the same.
I used my one movie opportunity to watch dune in theaters instead of the eternals even though I could've watched dune through HBO max... I'm hoping I made the right choice but it seems like with what most people have said, I probably did. Dune was radical, totally worth the ticket price.
I TRIED to watch Eternals today and found myself having to rewind over and over because I wound up doing anything except watch the movie due to it being it so boring. I wound up just turning it off.
I've been thinking about that as well, we should be fine, just don't forget to have your ancient aliens visit the white people, too; Marvel struck gold filling that gap in the ancient astronaut theory when they turned Norse mythology into space opera, giving us everything from The Mighty Thor to Beta Ray Bill.
I remember discovering the Eternals, Chariots of the Gods, In Search Of ... (hosted by Leonard Nimoy), and the Night Stalker all at the same time when I was a little kid. I didn't believe any of it was true, but I enjoyed all of it quite a bit. When we're kids, I think we enter into fantasy worlds much more easily -- and much more honestly. We recognized the fun of myths, monsters, ancient secrets, space aliens, and investigators (or newspaper reporters like Carl Kolchak) going out and uncovering "the truth," without believing it was real. Apparently, some adults need to believe it is.
The Celestials are a higher power like a god, and according to the Marvel universe, they intentionally created many races of people, including humans. That's intelligent design. The Celestials created the Eternals with the task of eradicating another race of people those "gods" had created, the Deviants. The Eternals were also supposed to manipulate humanity across centuries, encouraging advancements in war. That's eugenics.
@@dracorex426 I believe as far as the Eternals and the mutant population of Humans and Inhumans are concerned, they were globally meant to act as 'antibodies' that would protect the planet Earth because it was in the interests of Celestials? I havent seen the movie, just heard bits, but I believe in the comics there is also a Celestial seed in the core of the planet and its in the Celestials best interests if these experiments protected that seed from other powerful entities like Galactus...... I believe, I'm pulling from old memory rn
@@dracorex426 in the movie it was revealed that the Celestials designed Deviants to function as the Apex predator of the planets they planned for Intelligent life to prosper on. The deviants original purpose was to eradicate any natural predators that would risk wiping out possible intelligent life. Think how Ancient Tigers and Hawks would hunt early humans. But the Deviants on Earth evolved and went against their designed purpose and just started hunting specifically humans. Which forced the Celestials to create the Eternals who were designed to replace the Deviants and to hunt the deviants ensuring that humans wouldn’t go extinct, they were also tasked with not interfering too much in human culture, like they couldn’t stop wars or any major conflicts between humans since war between humans often leads to innovation and life saving tech being developed. Mutants weren’t ever mentioned in the film, but it is implied that the deviants influenced and altered the life on all the planets they picked to host an unborn celestial. So the MCU versions of these races were designed for a purpose by the Celestials but all of them later went against that purpose in different ways.
My roommate's leaned way too hard on conspiracies about aliens and the deep state, I'll gladly listen to a podcast that can make things feel more grounded. Great episode, Scott!
Eternals isn't the only sci-fi that does this, just the one that used actual bad theories. Two examples in my mind now is how Enterprise gave the credit for velcro to the Vulcans and how all technology is actually reverse engineering Megatron in Bay's Transformers. It takes things people have worked on for years and tosses out their achievements, skills, and creativity to be all science fictiony.
For what it’s worth, I once watched a very funny Ancient Aliens documentary on Hulu. And one of the first claims they made was that in the famous Oppenheimer quote, he was literally claiming that the Bhagavad Gita was a historical record of ancient space nukes.
I bought them when they hit the newsstand back in the day, and still have all of them. Kirby's artwork was amazing, no surprise there, but he amped it up for that series.
To make a good tinfoil hat, take a good load of aluminium, or whatever metal you prefer, and make a cylinder with multiple layers (I'd go for 3 minimum), then start crumbling the foil from your head upwards, as you reach the top of your head start twisting the foil above it to a handy grip/ tinfoil extension. Now you have a special hat that is exactly made for you, you special special boy/girl/thing/single celled organism/blob of the 6̶̨̨̡̨̧̢̡̨̡̢̢̢̧̡̢̧̨̧̧̡̡̟͖̳̻̣̥̱̞̹͔͙̜͖̞̬̞͇̹̝̯̯̳̙̗͖͎̻̺͇͓̣̤̯̫̪̖̼̱̲͇̠̜̖̩͙̤̲̺̮̙̘͚͍̻̣͙̫̞̬̼̦̺̱̠̦͈͈͚͙̟̜̣͎͓̞̗͔͉̩̗̫͓̟͓̣͖̱͉̮͔̖̠̤̙͚͙͇̟̹̹͍̗̜̲̼͍̗̮̞̥̺̠͖̭̦͎͚̩̦͓̠̫̪̥̳̳͉̹̹̰̭̱̩̣̤̹̮͍̼͎͓̼͔͎͎̙̼͈̟̤̼̥͓̗̤͍̦̬͓̹͔̮̰͉̮͕̤̗͙̞̘̭̲̬͎̣̙̣̱̘̪̤̼͇̪̠̯̙͕̱̪͚̞͇͚̱̣̳͙̼̩̙͚͉̰̝̜͓̣̠̩̗̩͚̘̓̓̔̿͋̈́̂͌͗̈́̍̽͛̋͗̒͐̈́͆́͐͌̅̏̏̈͌́̍̓̏̀̒̈́̆̌͗̉̐̒̽̄͛͋̚̚͘̕͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͠͝͠͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅ9̴̧̢̨̢̢̡̡̡̡̡̢̧̡̢̧̧̡̢̨̧̨̢̛̛̛̛͕̮̪̩̳̝̭̘͈͎̦̻͚͈̼͔̠̙̙͎͎̝̞̭̥͎͖̜̝̻͖̺̫͙̠̦͉̬͔͍̺̫̝̤̖̞̞͓͈͇̩̰̣̥͉͇̠̖͎̩͚̱̖̫̫̠͎̯̞͓̱̜̱̼̹͔̯̭̪̤̩̙͈͔͉̺̪̮̜̳̹̹̳̜͍͚̳͖͎͚̙̣̜̜̯̩͈̳͔̙̳͎̟̗͕͓̘̘͉͔̻͉̳͓͎̱̹͙̖̱̼̞͍̞̞̳͍̞͓͕͙͕̹̤̠̻͇͎̘͇̰̭͎͓̬̞̩̤̹͙̺͒͌̈̇̀͊̑̆̀̀̈́̔̌̎͛̈́̌̈́͆̉͆̈́̑͌͌̓͐̉͑͒̇̽̍̏̿̎͗͒́́̈́̌̃͊̐͗͂̀́̌̈́̄̔̔͌̔̋̋̊̈̊͑͊̇̎̅̈́͊̈́͗̐̿̿̑͗̾̀̀͗̌͗͒͂͋̈́͋̎̽͊̃̈͆͑͛̒͐̌́͊̆̀̍̌̀͆̀̿̄̾͗̀̇͆̅̈́̎̍͌͐͒́̃̒̉̾͊͛̆̏̑͛̋͒́̾̆̉̑͆͐̿͛̿̎̈͂̓̄̽͊͛́̎̐̍́͊͗̾̐͐̽̃͌̈́͛̀͗̄̑͆̓̃̽̊͛̀͐̿̐̒̓̾̓̈́̇̒̐̈̆͐͌̓͋̎̉̌̆͊̊̉̑͌̈́̇̀̂́̽̈̕̚̚̚̚̕̚̕͘̚̚̕̕͘̕͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͠͠͝͠ͅ dimension.
Well, one could argue that without Chariot of the Gods there would be no Battle Star Galactica. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your fandom. (Some would claim LDS Apostle Parley P Pratt was a more influential source.)
@@ChrisMaxfieldActs Well, more like Missouri. Glen Larson lore gets weird, according to his son he refused to read a Nightman comic until after he wrote the pilot for the TV show.
@@ChrisMaxfieldActs I have heard that Pratt was the inspiration, the pitch that convince producers to fund it was Star Wars crossed with Chariots of the Gods. His son claims that he had been working on the idea for ten years, long before either of the other two were famous. One can even see its influence in some of his Six Million Dollar Man scripts. Anyone else remember Bigfoot turning out to be an alien cyborg?
I was sorta expecting a critique of Kirby's run on the Eternals, not a critique of a book that most people have forgotten existed. The Eternals also referenced the Bermuda Triangle and a lot of other new-age stuff. But then, comics were never known for having a serious grip on science. Ikd, the video seems like a big step sideways. If you want to do a hot take on ancient alien theory, cool do that. If you want to critique Kirby's Eternals, cool do that. But maybe don't use one for the sole focus of the other
I listen to podcasts every day at work, usually critical role, but you just got added to the playlist baby! You both even get added to my podcast app on the same day! Woo!
Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be about Jack Kirby and the Eternals? Instead I got yet another video shitting on ancient aliens, one of the easiest targets around. Oh and commercials for subpar cereal and podcasts. At least he admits it at the end!
There is a saying that any technology sufficiently advanced is indifferent to magic in its classification...well I'd say that if a civilization smart enough for inter stellar travel had not only visited us but it had been thousands of years ago their tech would be Magic to us for it to last that long...and as we havent found real evidence of such magic technology there is no evidence of it
I'm actually glad you barely talked about Eternals because I don't know or care about it. I clicked because I care about you and needed a long vid to play in the background. Aliens, tho... 😘👌
Wait sorry it was VISUALLY boring to you?! Scott I love you man but like the visuals were one of the few redeeming qualities of this film. How did you not love the Celestial shots or at least semi like the gold magic stuff. First time I’ve heard anyone call the movie visually boring
@@NerdSyncProductions No need to be sorry, was just a bit shocked. To be fair, apart from some tracking shots and Arishem, there’s not much else that stands out to me. And yes, the cinematography is pretty standard. I was thinking more about the vfx I guess
I thought the movie looked gorgeous. It wasn't super colorful like a Thor: Ragnarok or like the comic that Scott held up. And maybe people familiar with the source material would have preferred it that way, and maybe it would have been better. But that's not the style the were going for and for what they chose to do I thought it was really well done.
I completely disagree with your review about Eternals, I loved the slow-burn expository approach of the movie, it felt like I was watching a sci-fi mythology movie. Eternals also has some fantastic visual imagery that's so memorable. So yeah, I loved Eternals. That being said, thank you for highlighting the problematic elements of Eternals source material. Jack Kirby was a Jewish man so I don't think he was ever a religious believer of The Chariot of the Gods theory.
I begged for Scott to get to the part where his description of Eternals was literally just Ancient Aliens. Then I realized he never watched it. I screamed at the screen for him to save himself while he still could.
Excellent video. I love how you build your narrative and how the story you tell has a cast and tone. Very, very well researched, too! Keep killing it!!!
This video has been so validating for its explicit callout of the racist mindsets that underly these sorts of alien conspiracies. I spent my childhood reading any (legitimate) literature I could find on Mayan culture and legends, and it was always so insulting to have to entertain other people’s “opinions” and “theories” defending the skepticism that von Daniken and others like him fostered. I’m always here for the Nerdsync-signature Context behind the Content 💖
which is a distortion of what skepticism actually is. If a person has concluded that these ancient astronaut ideas are true then they are a very very poor skeptic indeed.
At one point in my teens ancient aliens caught my curiosity (as esoterism etc) before i snapped out of it; And as a latino i can garantee it wasnt any underlying racism that explained my interest (for example i wondered egyptians made the piramids as homage or worship to then, but human made). I have no doubt theres a lot of that going into it for many people, as racism has (still is) used any and everything to try and justify its nonsense... But im sure the main draw is the same one that grasps ufologists to estorecists (ive met many in the past) - wich is the oldest draw in human history: a answer to everything. Our need for answers, meaning, something tying and explaining everything... you know, like gods, religion... those things that have always attracted us but now face a much harder time being believed in face of evidences since scientific tought rose up. So no surprise a wild theory explaining us on earth and connecting everything more scientific sounding catched on. Heck theres nowadays a very rich church based entirely on pseud-scientific mumbo jumbo that catchs people with science on its name... Im talking from personal experience and the many people ive met with similar interests. It was why i also looked into mysticism/esoterism, also why i jumped between various religions too- i wanted answers. I wondered if there were something more. But im sceptic by heart and self aware enough to snap out of it, unlike so many still. The chariot of gods racist author aside i think this have more to do with how little we know of non eurocentric cultures; The less we know about something the more fertile it is for folk to come up with crazy theories and hoaxes around it. By the same extent they choose what to focus and ignore, people saying its all and only racism chooses to ignore stonehange or the bible (so central to western culture). If you were to look closer at the theories around humans being originated from aliens directly or not (please dont, theyre all nonsense) most invent and fantasize around all humanity, also coming with crazy nonsense in regards to indo-european development and whatnot- because its further in the past (less know). As another example, now in esoterism, some people have crazy theories around norse culture and their gods (trying to tie into other things as well), but i never saw the same been done to the celts- because end of the day we had more documentation on the celts from the romans and later irish monks then we ever did the norse... Same kind of thing, the less know the easier it is for lies to spread. But sure, theres a bunch of racists too. It took me years to find some, only after ive mastered english and saw discussions online around those topics as when i argued with people who, upon the slightest inquiry revealed what they really wanted- to justify their racists povs. Before ive met white english speaking ancient aliens proponents ive never saw any of that... and i dont mean to say all white/european/americans ancient-aliens whatever are racists either, just that those lines of 'tought'(bigotry) run stronger in some countries then others and they sip into every niche, new age mumbo jumbo not excluded.
Y’all, I know I sound like a broken record when it comes to how much I enjoy & admire Scott’s work, but no less than half a dozen times in watching this video, I started to draft a question or quip into a tweet only to have Scott address it moments later in the video.
Once again, an excellent video. Written, narrated and edited in a very polite and professional way, it delivers unusual and sometimes unpopular but documented contents that will inspire listeners to use their brains. And without any doubt, this is the most intelligent approach and genuine love for comic books I've ever seen. The work you do is really very precious.
sorry about this one.
Nah don’t be sorry
You’re just honest 💀💀
You!!!
Why would you apologize for speaking the truth?
apology accepted and vErY warranted
And so you should be you peon,
😉 Jk, I’m a hardcore Kirby fan but The Eternals just isn’t up there with Stan & Jack’s Fantastic Four and other works, but it’s still an interesting read IMHO at least up until the introduction of the robot Hulk towards-the end of the comic, ( the writing was pretty much on the wall then.)
As an anthropologist, and carrying all the baggage of what anthropology was, chariots of the gods is maybe my 3rd greatest enemy in life. Not only is it nonsensical, but more so its entirely diminished the abilities and creations of cultures throughout the world as nothing more than aliens did it for them. It writes off real peoples entire lives and works as nothing more than "an alien did it".
That all said this episode is wonderful, and your use of Leapt vs leaped made my day.
What takes the top two spots?
Are the top two Indiana Jones and bad faith questions by people weirdly profoundly against evolution and the basic fundamentals of history and biology?
This is literally just repeating what he said in the video though this doesn't add anything you could of just said the first sentence lol
@@BlazenAva666 Did you expect every CZcams comment to add some meaningful information? What does your comment add to the conversation? He just wanted to share his similar perspective as an anthropologist as this topic is very closely related to him.
I'm curious to see what your take on Stargate is, then. Because it seems like Stargate is Chariot of The Gods done very, *very* well.
what i find so funny about the saqqara bird thing is that they immediately assumed that it was influenced by aliens instead of coming to the conclusion that maybe just maybe Egyptians a culture that worshiped bird deities and commonly used birds for hunting and sport had a basic understanding of aerodynamics from watching how birds do what they do
Right, like their "proof" for it being an airplane model was that (with additional airplane parts) it could fly. And it's like, you know what else can fly, Ancient Aliens? A BIRD.
Also, if aliens really came to Earth in ancient times then why their vehicles look like modern Earth vehicles rather than flying saucers or something?
Yeah, but you hit the nail on the head right there. The ancient Egyptians worshipped bird deities, and in Ancient Astronaut shit, all deities were actually aliens. So, if a culture that worshipped bird deities built bird sculptures, they must have been related to the aliens
What's also funny is that a lot of airplanes designs themselves are inspired by birds. Humans are inspired to create things through observations of nature all the time. There's literally a word called "biomimicry" for this exact phenomenon.
Like ;jkvwjq bro. It's not that these bird toys look suspiciously like planes. It's more like. Planes tend to look suspiciously like birds. Because a lot of planes. Were designed after real-life birds ;zkvwm;
I KNEW THIS WAS A SCOOBY DOO LORE VIDEO IN DISGUISE. I COULD FEEL IT IN MY BONES
Incel
🍌
Chomu lol
@@quantum6888 what the what
Spoilers, Geoff!
“A dollar made educating you, and a dollar made manipulating you are worth exactly the same. What’s easier, you think?”
That is so true, it’s sad.
I disagreed with that statement as soon as I heard it. A dollar spent manipulating you is worth a lot more in the long run.
Well, working in the current US public education system, I can tell you they're killing two birds with one dollar. I hope to see it decentralized and soon.
That's because con artists make more money than teachers.
I discovered Chariots of the Gods when I was around 12 or so in the early 80s. It really made me scratch my head. "Adults are making fun of me for reading comics, and adults believe in this stuff?" I've evolved that initial question over the years, and I've made my peace with it.
That was a great shot of your garbage can bee the dubs.
lol. Yep. Adults make fun of kids for being kids, then believe aliens created everything and take horse tranquilizers.
It sounds as if child abusers were also religious fundamentalists or something!
Ha, they really don't have a leg to stand on, do they?
I came here to learn about the eternals comics and was pleasantly surprised. From a frustrated Egyptian, thank you for defending our cultures and raising awareness.
Imagine getting in pity fights with people that nobody take seriously, actual loser.
NerdSync: “I’m not calling you a fool for believing any of this”
Me: You know what I feel like a fool for? Believing this video was actually about the eternals comics….
Same tbh 😂
Oh, but you forget what channel you're watching. This is about the Eternals comics in the only way NerdSync *can* talk about them: with 90% context.
Exactly
As soon as I saw the title for this video I thought "That doesn't sound like a Nerdsync topic." Then I watched the video and it started making a lot more sense. lol And what we got was a lot more interesting than just complaining about how bad Eternals is.
I can't believe how dumb this video is. Sorry but I *have to* rant.
This guy thinks we're so stupid that he has to "debunk" ancient aliens theories!
Not only that, he judges a comic "bad" because it's based on a fictional premise, like, I don't know, Star Wars. I guess Darth Vader has been a historical figure.
Meanwhile, he himself bought into the "ancient aliens it's due to racism" conspiracy theory.
Unbelievable
I mean this was entertaining, but it's not really an examination why the comics are bad. Ancient Aliens is obviously pretty dumb. But it works as a premise for comic books. It also worked for Stargate. That doesn't mean you have to accept it as real.
You know clickbait titles are a thing on youtube
Pause bud. Ancient aliens isn't dumb
@isaiah flores it kinda is
Also, in Lost in Space and Star Trek as they encounter Thor, Valkyrie and Chronos on Lost in Space and Romulans similar to Romans on Star Trek also Apollo the Greek God of light. Also other episodes of advanced technology and civilizations pretending to be gods including Terlane and The Q.
I would like to say that although the video makes it very clear, Kirby was never a racist. His life contained a lot of prejudices and not always friendly environments, and the guy presented diverse characters for both companies. Gabe Jones in the howling commandos, black skinned pioneers in New gods like Vykin or Black racer, and how to forget the black panther. The list does not end there, but the truth is that Kirby based his stories on the most interesting part and that makes a story worth telling, and not the ugly and racist part. The other half of Eternals is very cool mythology inspiration, and I think that mixing the two concepts in a story in which it is always clear that it is fiction and leaves aside the discriminatory approach, taking place more with the Celestial makes room for a good story .
Yes, for sure. Marvel Comics is a land where Thor is a real person, sorcery exists, radioactivity equals superpowers, and an ancient Pharaoh was actually a time traveling from the 31st century. I know Eternals wasn't originally part of the main MU, but it's regardless pretty obvious that he wasn't claiming this to be fact. (And who knows if he even recognized the racism -- I honestly had never considered it until just now, so it's easy to overlook.)
@@davidbjacobs3598 Indeed.
The guy also loved nothing more than punching nazis. Kirby was calling out the shit Hitler was doing with Captain America well before The United States even joined World War 2.
This is honestly my only real problem with this video. Like I get that the story line of going from a simple comic topic to this whole thing about politics and history is why we all subscribed to this channel. I still think that the place we stared and the place we ended up are so very different that equating them seems a little off to me. Like he said he doesn’t think liking the eternals means you’re a racist conspiracy theorist, which is both an obvious statement and a necessary clarification, and that’s good. Still these kind of things kinda rub me the wrong way.
I have genuinely no idea how to make it clear conspiracy theory inspired fiction IS just all fictional when there's a cult based around hp lovecraft's works, believing it to be real and do 'spells' with his literature.
there's been other people believing in wack shit based around other pieces of modern media too - and even way more niche works - but that's the best example I've got of this dilemma I have as a writer myself, it feels like a very thin tight rope
I just don’t care for the Eternals. Kirby loves giant god superpowered monarchs and civilizations while I like Lee’s down to earth relatable idea of superheroes. Kirby and Lee are perfect together because they can use their strengths and cut out the fat (Most of the time)
Lee was a fraud, because of Stan Lee Jack Kirby went to Dc in 74,Jack Kirby didnt got enough credit he deserved like many illustrators from that era
I'm Peruvian. Thank you for showing me the dude that put in the world's mind the idea that my ancestors weren't intelligent enough to do stuff. Now I know where to direct my anger.
The way most people view history is pretty skewed.
People in the past weren't DUMBER than people today. They didn't know as much as we currently know about science or medicine, sure, but when they saw things in front of them, they described them. They didn't get weird and abstract: if someone had seen an airplane, they would've called it a giant flying hunk of metal, not a "weird bird".
I don’t think they would, though. That’s probably a bad example. How would you know it’s metal? It’s basically just a tiny silhouette when looked at from the ground.
@@UltimateKyuubiFox Planes are silhouettes when looked at from the ground?? Have... you ever seen a plane from the ground before?
In fact, no. In the incident of the Auca natives, who were Stone Aged in the 50s, they saw planes and called it a Wooden Bee.
But, yes, I see your point about them not being stupid. That being said, interpretation of surviving texts can be tricky.
@@VitaminCBable Huh. That's interesting, I've never heard of that. Point taken.
OH MY GOD the whole time I was watching the Eternals I was like "This is just like 'It's Probably not Aliens' but the opposite" so I'm glad we got the Probz Podz gang tackling the Eternals
Tulok?! Good to see you here! Love your work!
Probably not Alien fan, let's go.
I don't think that Eternals is a morally bad story for doing that tho? We don't call Captain America "revisionist history", we know he's made up, and this is an alternative history. Same applies to Eternals. Especially since Jack Kirby didn't really believed that stuff and only used it as inspiration for his clearly fictional and not trying to convince anyone it's real story.
The Eternals movie "SUCKED" because it was an insult to the comic and anyone who actually liked it were people who knew absolutely nothing about the comic or it's characters but I don't hold that against them because the MCU is mostly aimed at people who know nothing about Marvel Comics characters.
@@saeedrazavi4428 yeah he makes great content
the fact that Jack couldn't continue and finish New God storyline was such a tragedy
I'm howling with laughter over Ancient Aliens acting all surprised that a fucking BIRD is aerodynamic.
I'm always moved by that clip of Oppenheimer, you can see the palpable disillusionment and horror in his expression, in trying to make an unimaginable power for good, he inadvertently made one for evil
So this video has nothing to do with the Eternals comics being bad, it’s about the conspiracy theory behind it being bad. I agree that Ancient Alien theories are bad, but a piece of science fiction being inspired by it isn’t inherently in the wrong. Just because the book Journey to the Center of the Earth is based on Hollow Earth theory, that doesn’t mean that the fictional book is in the wrong. Conspiracy theories, as dumb as they are, can make for fun sci fi premises. As long as readers are aware that it’s fiction, I don’t see a problem with it.
Yea this was a stretch for a critique, except the comics are also pretty bad lmao
I agree. The thing about the stuff in Chariots of the Gods actually "works" in a fantastical, magical, super sci fi world of comicbooks.
Your comment deserves WAY more likes!!!!
@@louisalectube Especially if you're Marvel and actually remember to apply it to white people as well. 😂
Yeah, I saw the the same kind of critique of Godzilla vs. Kong floating around when that came out, because the Earth is hollow in that too. Like, yeah, we know that Hollow Earth Theory is bogus. This is a movie about a giant radioactive lizard fighting the last battle in a millennia-old conflict between its species and a race of giant gorillas.
10:07 is the moment I realized that this episode is in part just a big plug for your podcast. Well played.
Haha at least you're not annoyed
@@NerdSyncProductions how could we be when it's the best plug we've seen
I literally paused to find the link
@@NerdSyncProductions How could that annoy us? Your podcast is amazing
It's like how the movie Evolution is just a really long Head & Shoulders commercial.
I had already dismissed Von Daniken by the time The Eternals came out (I was 21.) I never took it seriously, but Damnit, Chariot of the Gods was a great premise for an action comic book! It was no more implausible than, say, a kingdom of dinosaurs on Antarctica or a city-state of talking gorillas in Africa or an asteroid orbiting the earth like a moon inhabited by a mutant with electromagnetic powers because, Comics!
It's so hilarious how every time the Ancient Aliens writers run out of ideas they just said “fuck it, let's turn any mundane archeological object into a fucking airplane" and showed that as proof of historical aliens.
I don't really see the issue with Jack Kirby's Eternals run, because it's very clearly meant to be looked at as fiction, meanwhile Ancient Aliens try to make their claims come of as facts
Great video though
Only if Greek and Egyptian gods wasn't a thing in marvel
Yea I really don’t like eternals compared to new gods stuff, but that was a really weird critique of a fictional comic book
Next, egyptology through the lens of Moon Knight.
Moonknight: Khonshu did you ever heard of eternals.
Khonshu: no! why?
Moonknight: they said they expired depictions of gods on earth.
I've read the interview of Kirby somewhere that he never really took wacky theories or conspiracies seriously but if those theories sound interesting to him, he can't help but incorporate in his stories, so I think Chariot of God was also part of that process. he just imagined what if regarding ancient aliens and thought "hm that sounds interesting"
This is honestly why I've gotten away from using a lot of History and Discovery Channel videos in my highschool history class. Their embracing of the popular and conspiratorial over statistical and rigorous science really bothers me. I also teach Psychology, and really try to defend the concept of true skepticism for my students.
i honestly wanted to know what made the eternals comics bad,but honestly this video felt like it was mostly about ancient aliens and jack kirby. Like damn man did the comics have some crazy terrible plotlines or something? was it boring? It feels like this 40 minute video had like 5 minutes of actual content about the comic
Let's take a moment to give the comics some credit. Kirby took this very popular "theory" that was steeped in racist beliefs that all non-Eurpoean civilizations needed aliens to create them. Then, he pivoted the Eternals to focus on European myths. I don't know if this was active anti-racism on his part (it probably wasn't; might just be because he knew more about European myths) but it's one thing I really appreciate about the Eternals nonetheless.
He was certainly actively anti-racist, and was on the ground floor of eventually turning the whitest people of all's gods into space opera by helping create The Mighty Thor, which eventually went full ancient astronauts.
Personally the looming shot of Arishem in deep space and the shot of this wall of Eternals memories really stuck with me.
The former because it shows Arishem's power dynamic with Sersi without saying a single word, beautifully showing the power any Celestial holds over the already inhumanely powerful Eternals and the second due to the story implications.
And obviously both are very visually striking just in general.
kirbys visuals were atomic explosions of beauty. nuff said.
@@mercurywoodrose Right... I still think those shots looked amazing. Never said they were better than Kirby's drawings. I actually didn't even mention Kirby at all. So I don't know what you're on about here.
Also the gates of babylon…those looked so nice
Eternals wasn't great, but I kinda liked it
The one question that I ask ancient astronaut whackos is "If an advanced species came to ancient earth and made all these pyramids and such...why didn't they use cement?"
Or hell any advanced material not found on EARTH. Chariot of the Gods has questions but provides no answers and NO PROOF, just more speculation.
why would they???????????
@@serenityq26 Why would they what?
@@serenityq26 Why would they not? They certainly wouldn't use sandstone and granite, famously very soft rocks.
Scott: "A dollar made educating you and a dollar made manipulating you are worth exactly the same"
Me, with an incredibly huge brain: yes, they are worth a dollar
as a hispanic i do love you calling out that all the weird alien shyte is only when we figure something out. truth is theres so much proof that indigenous civilizations had waaaay more engineering skills than previously thought and that artistic expression is a natural part of all humans.
No seas boludo, man
Indeed, is amazing how those monkeys managed to have a civilization 4.000 years outdated instead of 10.000! Tho, nowadays they still show their inferiority...
Wait, didn't aliens already make the inhumans so this is "third times the charm" for Jack Kirby when it comes to aliens and gods? Also in the MCU Thor is an ancient astronaut so...
uhh… what’s that part about Thor??
@@giratina5644 in the Thor movie, Thor told Jane Foster that on Asgard what people call magic is actually technology
@@TupocalypseShakur Only for that notion to be slowly forgotten and retconned
@@coolgreenbug7551 I saw it more as the two being the same thing. He's an alien...and a god.
@@RaptorJesus like my friend Jesus he's also considered a alien.
I came here to learn about Kirby's Eternals comics, not the Ancient Aliens show. I've seen debunks of that show on other CZcams channels, and in Community College, I also have eyes...
It's necessary to talk about Chariot Of The Gods for context, and explain that Kirby was taking from a foundationally racist theory that he didn't seem to actually believe in - I'm with you that far... But that's where your coverage of the comic ends. Did Kirby build anything on top of that foundation? Did he use his comic to question or reinforce these ideas? Did the comics embrace these ancient cultures in creating its cosmic heroes? Did he wind up telling worthwhile stories? I have no idea, cause you spent so much more time talking about The History Channel. DUDE!
I love your channel, I think it's wonderful and I've watched most of it. But this time I feel frustrated.
I feel the same man. I'm a big Kirby fan and thought maybe he had a different perspective of the comic and maybe show that even though he thought it aged bad (in his opinion) but still appreciated it on some level at some point in the video; he spent 40 mins about a subject he could have made a separate video about. In my mind he pulled the same shit that he just criticized the History Channel for doing. What dose Ancient Aliens being a crap show have to do with the quality of Jack's Eternals book? It's a fine video but he didn't have to drag Jack Kirby's name/work into it to make a point.
@@nathangarcia7921 As a debunk of Ancient Aliens, it's not bad. A little repetitive of Quinton Reviews (who did a 3 parter of History Channel vids) but funny and well done. Just wish it wasn't a bait and switch.
Well, I mean, at the heart of Eternals was the interracial relationship between Kro and Thena. Kirby's Kro wasn't the sanitized version of some later comics, but he clearly had much in him to admire and I think a majority of readers were probably rooting for him in the comic. And of course, later on, in the Simonson maxi-series for example, he basically became the outright protagonist of the series, along with Thena.
I guess my point is that Kro and Thena is an interracial romance and that is the heart of The Eternals story. So it doesn't really seem like it can be reduced so easily to a racist narrative.
@@kforcer Kirby also explicitly made the Eternals inspiration for European mythology too from the get go, so he cut the potential racist implication off at the root.
this video is so fucking good I’ve loved your stuff for a while but holy hell this one is great
No it isn't. Its a thinly disguised rant about ancient alien theory. Like if you want to talk about ancient alien theory, talk about ancient alien theory, don't trick us with the eternals, artists are allowed to explore ideas that they may not endorse or agree with.
@@lavabite Also the whole thing about Alien theory being racist just had me scratching my head. Said so in the same breath he mentioned they talk about Stonehenge too. Just seemed like a stretch. Only part that had merit in that section is the theory that black people are a failed experiment, he should have started with that instead of just throwing it aside to say things that aren't racist are racist.
I think it is perfectly fine to enjoy a comic only for the art. It is a visual medium.
Yes. I enjoy the Kirby run on Eternals on art alone. It jumps off the page. It's like strolling thru an art gallery which also happens to be telling a narrative.
X-Men > Inhumans > Eternals
Are u rating power scale or characterization
@@solonvergara207 characterization probably. The trend is the more powerful the character the less of a character they are.
Xmen
Who cares about the other 2 exept blackbolt is sometimes used to fight the hulk who was weak to sound
@@solonvergara207 Characterization. X-Men are amazing, Inhumans have interesting ideas but only mildly interesting characters, and Eternals are painfully dull IMO
Juan Sanchez eternal only have Thanos to make them interesting and maybe Gilgamesh and sersi because they did they are the most powerful ones and they have a rich history with the avengers
I recommend the old episode of Nova, "The Case For Ancient Astronauts" where they blow apart each and every theory Van Daniken put forth, capping the whole thing with Tor Heyerdahl getting together with the natives of Easter Island and putting up their own statue.
The connection between Jack Kirby's The Eternals and Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods is interesting, but linking them together like this is annoying. It's not fair to say that Kirby thought or agreed with von Däniken's work (I know you're not, and I admire you putting in the clip of Kirby talking about his scepticism on the subject), but there's something off about conflating The Eternals with Chariots of the Gods.
Chariots was a massively influential book during a time of chemical expansion and radical free thought, very much a product of its time. It's unfair to think of Kirby's use of it in his own work is more than "this is a cool idea for a comic".
Chariots was designed strangely, like there was a backdoor to its stupid questions; almost like: "idk man, I'm just asking is all". It seems very firebrand-y. Whereas The Eternals' only goal was to provide some kind of entertainment for sci-fi comic nerds, not to openly challenge the audience's understanding of well established facts about world history.
In short, you're kind of a meanie for this one, but you're bang on about everything Scooby-Doo.
the visual portrayal of makari's speed is one of the best portrayals of that power yet.
And yet the very fact that Makari is here a woman when the character is meant to be the god Mercury (who is male) is stupid.
@@TrekBeatTK how so?
@@directorforplastic7929 because the movie explicitly equates Therna with Athena and Ikarus with Icarus and yet when it comes to the character obviously meant to be Mercury, they not only completely ignored the connection, but genderflipped it. Either do that and don’t play up the mythic connections or don’t do it. But the way they handled it made it just awkward forced diversity and left my asking why the mythological Mercury was male (and presumably not deaf). They didn’t even address it. This was a problem.
@@TrekBeatTK In the MCU the Romans could’ve easily gender-flipped her to fit either their narrative or what they thought they saw. Stories easily get adjusted, changed, or misremembered as time goes on
@@TrekBeatTK …? That makes no sense lol. Thena is the god A-Thena, dubbed the goddess of war simply because she could summon weapons. Ikarus is a non godly mythological character who, in “reality”, had powers. Their names are both spelled wrong, their presence worked into myths in a completely abstractulised way. Why is Makari, a character many of the ancient people likely never got a good look at due to her speed, such a problem? Why would it be weird for Greek culture to gender flip her, given that they were a male dominated society? Why is there a problem with her, but not with Ajak? Phastos and Hephaestus are wildly different too.
You went into this movie looking for a thing to be mad about because you think that diversity is being forced, but people of all colours and genders and sexualities have always existed. Sorry that I’m the one to break it to you I guess.
Scott, you didn't need to make a 44 minute & 27 second trailer for this podcast, the premise is a hook enough!
Kirby was telling ancient alien stories long before New Gods and Eternals.
Sept 1958 - Race for the Moon #2 has a 5 page Kirby story "The Face on Mars".
Sure, Eternals was Kirby's version of Chariots of the Gods, but Kirby already thought of that 20 years earlier.
This was the most entertaining bait-and-switch youtube video I ever watched. I ain't even mad. But please actually make a video about the Eternals comic books now, I genuinely am interested to see if Jack Kirby's interpretation of the ancient aliens theory added anything new or interesting to the concept and if it had any lasting influence on the rest of the marvel universe.
It did have lasting influence on the Marvel universe, although the story behind that is interesting. Kirby didn't want Eternals to be canon to the Marvel universe, but the higher-ups later overruled him. So the Celestials became a recurring species/concept in the comics, which you can see the influence of in the GOTG movies, and the origin for humanity in Jack Kirby's Eternals became the definitive version of it in the Marvel canon. It was also later tied in with things like the mutants, with the Celestials intentionally giving humans the potential for mutations and such.
Yeah, I can agree that the Eternals comic books are just... weird. I've read the first several issues of Kirby's original run, and Neil Gaiman's run from the 2000s. Gaiman's run was OK, but it was still the Eternals with all the baggage, which really really just holds the whole thing down.
I really like the _concept_ of what Kirby kept trying to go for with his Alien Space Gods ideas that he kept revisiting, starting with Galactus himself, then with the New Gods of Darkseid and Orion over at DC, and finally with the creators of the Eternals, the Celestials, after he went back to Marvel, which were all Kirby's attempts at exploring his Erich von Däniken-style "Chariots of the Gods"/Ancient Astronauts ideas that ancient mankind's legends of gods were actually based on alien beings who came to Earth, and primitive mankind could only interpret them in terms of being gods. I have to admit that I am fascinated by that stuff (in a purely fictional setting, of course... that stuff has absolutely _no_ basis in reality.)
Now, the _real_ reason why I find the idea so fascinating is because I am a Lovecraft fanatic, and I could always just _feel_ how much the entire concept was ripped straight from Lovecraft, even before I found out that was the actual case. A few years ago I read a great article I stumbled across on the Internet all about how von Däniken got all the entire idea for "Chariots of the Gods?" straight from reading old copies of Lovecraft stories that he stumbled across on a train or something while he was busy pulling off one of the many, _many_ con jobs he was involved in (von Däniken was a _notorious_ conman across Europe... little surprise that he went from pulling small con games to a big one selling ancient astronaut ideas. So many founders of "new religious movements" were notorious flim-flam artists before founding their "new religions", from L. Ron Hubbard being involved in scams with occult groups in the 40s and purposefully building Dianetics into a religious movement so he could use it as a way to dodge taxes, all the way back to Joseph Smith running treasure-hunting scams where he bilked investors with fake treasure-finding expeditions where he claimed he could use his magic divinatory "seeing stones" to find buried gold in New York State in the mid-1800s, before he formed the Mormon church. It's pretty funny how he went from running con artist scams using "Magic Seeing Stones" to find fake buried treasure, to founding a religion using "Holy Seeing Stones" that allowed him to be the _only one_ who could translate the "Golden Tablets" he claimed to have found buried somewhere.)
Huh... after just now trying to search Google for that old article I read years ago about von Daniken and Lovecraft, it now appears there are _tons_ of articles out there talking about how the whole idea of Ancient Aliens came from Lovecraft's works. I just guess more people have been catching on to it, what with Lovecraft becoming more popular than ever over the past few years.
I wrote my dissertation on Lovecraft for my degree in English Literature - while he wasn't the first fiction writer to have the "what if extraterrestrials planted humans," idea, he was the first to really explore how frightening that concept is and how deeply unsettling and earth-shattering it could be.
The irony of being attached to Daniken's Anciet Aliens via Lovecraft is that Lovecraft was also seriously racist and biased against 'others'. Not making any assumptions about you, just saying that's quite the coincidence
@@MystiqMiu And here we go, the ubiquitous "Lovecraft was a racist" comment.
"Quite the coincidence" but yet you're "not making any assumptions about me?" Go to Hell.
I know that it's become the standard fashionable thing to claim that Lovecraft was an _extreme racist_ even for his time, and he certainly _was_ a racist, no question at all, he wasn't "extreme even for his time." Lovecraft was a bog standard white New England racist of the late 1800s/early 1900s. The only thing that was different about Lovecraft is that he left behind hundreds of letters which documented his views, while most other people didn't, _and_ Lovecraft had quite a few friends among the groups he was racist against (even _marrying_ a Jewish woman) who left us with comments about his beliefs. If we had had such extensive documentation on the attitudes of any other random white New Englander of the time they would have been absolutely no different than him. Trying to claim that Lovecraft was "an extreme racist even for his time" is actually totally whitewashing the extant of racism that existed then, and is offensive.
You just cannot judge people who lived a century or more ago against the attitudes of people today, any historian will tell you that.
I'm sorry to have to inform everyone about this, but if you go back in time 100 years or more, _everyone is racist_ compared to today. Shakespeare was absolutely racist. Every great artist, philosopher, painter, sculpter, writer... they were all _horribly racist._ Human beings are flawed and messy creatures, most especially artists, and if you're going to limit the art you appreciate to only that created by artists who pass some kind of purity test, you're going to be left with nothing.
@@MystiqMiu Lovecraft become much more progressive as he aged. At The Mountains of Madness was written around the time that he started disowning his previous beliefs. Note that the story is fundamentally about a society which was destroyed for its use of slaves, and also that it was an "ancient aliens" story without attributing any historical creations to the fictional aliens.
If you read "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" HPL actually goes into a lot of stuff that seems to come up much later as part of psychedelic/new-age writings too.
Just going by the title, I couldn’t agree more! Well before the movie came out I never liked the books. But I still only read the Gaiman stuff, not any of the silver or bronze age stuff yet.
Wait wait wait... Neil Gaiman wrote for the Eternals.
Well, now I can't see dislikes, so I don't know if this is being well recieved or not
gaiman's book is what the movie is largely based on minus all the changes to characters apperances and relationships but the whole mind wipes stuff and multiple bodies and the great machine is all from him. i personally like his stuff BUT the original is better
@@jacobschmidt2771 with John Romita Jr on pencils, maybe from 2006.
I am reading a Gaiman Eternals book right now and I'm half way through, it's been pretty good. Have definitely read worse marvel comics. I havent seen the movie though so I dont know if its good
Kind of a bummer this episode wasn't really about the Eternals comic, or whether it was a good story. But I am all about debunking garbage conspiracy theories. So I guess it's a wash.
Good video, but I have some criticism. This might be due to my familiarity with the topic as a historian, but the video was kind of repetitive. I already know ancient alien theories are racist, and I would have been more interested to know how the work of fiction uses and adapts its source material and what kind of effect that had on conspiracy theories irl, if any.
I've had knowledge of the Ancient Aliens show and how the Eternals essentially have that basic concept as well but I never knew about "Chariot of the Gods?" and how they both stemmed from it. I also didn't about how the idea itself based on racism and it changed my whole outlook on how I'll view the idea of Ancient Astronauts in the future. My guess is that it might come of as repetitive when you already know about the subject, but it doesn't if you haven't.
@@KiraNightV yeah agreed, my only connection to the concept was knowing the history Channel has a dumb show. Had no idea it was mostly sparked due to one dudes book that got surprisingly popular.
I did already understand the racist elements as, when you say a culture didn't do something for themselves you are already stepping into the territory.
Okay so this wasn't about the eternals comics being bad, you barely touched on it. This was about the so-called science of ancient aliens and it being an obvious influence on the eternals. I was expecting a video on why the comics were bad based on the title of the video, not a video on the spurious logic of ancient alien conspiracies.
Cry about it
I think the one visual I can really say stuck with me from the movie was
SPOILERS IF YOU CARE
When we see the Celestial loom over London before he snatches up Gemma Chan and the Gang. But even then that was more for the imagery of Galactus that it was reminiscent of than it in and of itself. But regardless of reason, I did think it looked cool.
I honestly wonder how much they'll handle Silver Surfer and Galactus in the MCU, since Eternals (the movie at least) deals with a lot of the same theme and imagery. Galactus and the Celestials are both different stand ins for "God" so I guess overlap is expected. I'm just still waiting for that concept art of the Celestials walking on earth, their legs above the clouds, to be on the big screen.
While one of my favorite sci-fi franchises may have been inspired by Chariot of the Gods I love a good take down of the ancient aliens crap. It’s an interesting story idea but it’s too problematic when taken seriously beyond works of fiction..
using ancient aliens fantasies as the foundation for Eternals doesn’t make Eternals bad. The lack of any idea as to how to resolve the storyline is what makes it bad.
I used to consume a lot of paranormal content, and then one day I was watching one of those shows on the History Channel and thought "This guy has no idea what he's talking about". That was the day I became a skeptic.
The big different about the eternals though is that it was always meant to be fiction. There is absalutly no way that marvel is trying to convince us that the eternals are real.
Thats what he said in the video, Kirby didn't actually believe book he just adapted it
Eternals immortal ancient aliens race just fiction characters by jack Kirby design no real
History channel actually had another show that I used to really enjoy back in the time when whole shows could be watched in CZcams, called ancient discoveries. It had a bit of the same crackpot pseudo archeology of ancient aliens, but mostly actual archeology presented by actual archeologists and historians that was simply exaggerated a bit by the narration. However the conclusion of the show wasn't 'therefore aliens', it was 'therefore ancient people are awesome!', and it didn't oppose "mainstream scientists", but rather modern eurocentric misconceptions about ancient people being "primitive". It still had some leaps of logic and bad methodology for the sake of sensation, but not too much, and free of racism...
As someone who loves Jack Kirby and has read every issue of his Eternals comics... yep, not good.
That said, this video is excellent!
@Omni-Man They are garbage. Pretty garbage.
Scott: "I'm not saying if you like the Eternals that means you're a bad person"
Ancient alien conclusion: If you like Eternals you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT be a bad person. THAT'S SPOOKY!
Kind of funny that because of Eternals the Marvel universe has both ancient astronaut theory being true, but also most mythologies literally happened the exact way they were described.
The THOR franchise wasn't already doing that?
They should have just kept the Eternals separate from the Marvel universe the way Kirby intended and initially did. They just had to incorporate the MU to boost sales.
In the marvel universe mystical gods exist alongside ancient aliens claiming to be those gods…marvel needs to clean up the continuity a bit.
Yes, Jack Kirby did the same thing with Thor.
As an Asian person, I don’t think the idea of alien astronauts is inherently racist even if the people who are responsible for spreading the idea into the mainstream were or are racist. It’s just an inherently cool idea especially if treated the way it should be, as a wacky theory that shouldn’t be entirely dismissed but should also be given zero credibility. If anything the lack of application of “alien theory” to western cultures is simply indicative of how boring most western mythologies are. With the exception of Norse and Greek mythologies, there’s not much to apply alien theories on, especially since white people essentially invented things like firearms and cannons so they could kill each other more efficiently. I don’t get why Kirby putting these cool ideas into his comics makes the eternals comics bad, he even goes through the effort to apply this alien theory to Greek mythology, a very obviously white and European mythology. Just because he was inspired by “Chariots” doesn’t mean the idea of alien astronauts is inherently racist, von Daniken doesn’t have a monopoly on alien theories lol, in fact he stole most of his ideas from already existing literature. For example Nazi scientists was responsible for some minor breakthroughs in science, but just because they were monsters doesn’t mean that the science they founded was inherently evil. Don’t give the racists too much credit it ruins the ideas they’re associated with, even if the ideas themselves aren’t inherently racist. For the record, I don’t believe in alien astronauts at all, I just think it makes for cool literature.
Well put!
"For example Nazi scientists was responsible for some minor breakthroughs in science, but just because they were monsters doesn’t mean that the science they founded was inherently evil."
That just invalidated everything else you had to say, sorry.
@Dolly that you cannot separate the science from the scientists says volumes about you.
We can assume you'll stop using your GPS, or any other item that owes its existence to NASA and its ability to put items in space, and campaign against medical care for hypothermia, hypoxia, dehydration, or opiate addiction since they owe much of their existence to research ( often unethical) or development done by the Nazis. No science is inherently evil, just sometimes the people and the methods used to collect that evidence are.
He says like half of this in the video though
As a fantasy concept, it is fun. As an earnest scientific or archeological theory , I consider it completely racist. Speaking as an African .
This video did not explain why the Eternals comics are bad, it only explained why its inspirations were bad, which is not the same thing, its inspirations were sold as legitimate science when Eternals was always sold as a fictional comic book for kids..
It's kind of exciting watching this after listening to the podcast, like finding out that the next book you need to read for school is one you just finished and you get to be all smug about it.
OMFG! I didn’t know any of this and I literally joked that the eternals felt like a episode of ancient aliens!
And for that matter, so did Bayformers! 😂
Also crazy how much scientology get from the whole ancient alien stuff. The whole nuclear war stuff in ancient times. In scientology it freed the alien spirit from the volcanos or what not...
This was one of the most misleading videos I've ever seen
I knew this video was coming, Kirby made galactic, Alien, evolved hymn families have never succeeded past his original conception. (I’m looking at you Inhumans)
I didn’t realize where this was going until you brought out chariot of the gods. Then I got excited. I love your CZcams channel and the podcast
I can’t believe I found out that Grey’s Anatomy had 17 whole seasons from an eternals (secretly Scooby doo lore) video
I came for the eternals and Kirby, but got an awesome origin story for the podcast.
Four stars, will listen again.
Coming from a religious, as well as a education valued household, I would always be excited when people would talk about the possibility of alien life or heck any sci-fi topic having the credible possibility to exist in one form or another in our world.
Of course I understand that fanaticism can lead one to forget and ignore the real life feats and accomplishments, as well as horrors, that humans have achieved throughout it’s complicated history on this rock and possibly beyond.
On the artistry side of things, the Eternals movie could’ve been done really well if it wasn’t just put in the rusty MCU meat grinder of movie making that the general public is starting to get tired off, while also ignoring the vibrant and interesting cultures that this premise could’ve exceeded that if they celebrated that in its design and execution.
And in pertaining to that last nugget? I agree that knowledge, just like any form of power, can be tainted depending on how it’s used.
i see the common view when talking about this stuff is that it's racism through calling others useless, but i'm glad you gave the clarity that it's at least unintended on the hand of the believers
i personally think the idea that it's a form of racism falls to just an accidental implication, made by the fact when making wild theories it's just harder to target things you already know about and understand just through osmosis, it's a lot less mystical and you can't question something when you already know the answer, but when you have something that you've never heard of, that's miles away, and you know absolutely nothing about, at that point it becomes so easy for someone if they want to, to impart their own desires for something greater to be out there, because to some it's not really that cool for the answer to just be more of the same.
I used my one movie opportunity to watch dune in theaters instead of the eternals even though I could've watched dune through HBO max... I'm hoping I made the right choice but it seems like with what most people have said, I probably did. Dune was radical, totally worth the ticket price.
100% the correct choice, especially since Dune part 2 is out now 2 years latee
I TRIED to watch Eternals today and found myself having to rewind over and over because I wound up doing anything except watch the movie due to it being it so boring. I wound up just turning it off.
On the reals, though, I've struggled with how cool the idea of "ancient aliens" as a fun sci-fi theory can be :(
I've been thinking about that as well, we should be fine, just don't forget to have your ancient aliens visit the white people, too; Marvel struck gold filling that gap in the ancient astronaut theory when they turned Norse mythology into space opera, giving us everything from The Mighty Thor to Beta Ray Bill.
I remember discovering the Eternals, Chariots of the Gods, In Search Of ... (hosted by Leonard Nimoy), and the Night Stalker all at the same time when I was a little kid. I didn't believe any of it was true, but I enjoyed all of it quite a bit. When we're kids, I think we enter into fantasy worlds much more easily -- and much more honestly. We recognized the fun of myths, monsters, ancient secrets, space aliens, and investigators (or newspaper reporters like Carl Kolchak) going out and uncovering "the truth," without believing it was real. Apparently, some adults need to believe it is.
Funfact: Marvel's Eternals is ALSO about eugenics AND intelligent design.
I don't get it.
The Celestials are a higher power like a god, and according to the Marvel universe, they intentionally created many races of people, including humans. That's intelligent design. The Celestials created the Eternals with the task of eradicating another race of people those "gods" had created, the Deviants. The Eternals were also supposed to manipulate humanity across centuries, encouraging advancements in war. That's eugenics.
@@AbjectPermanence I always thought the Deviants, Eternals, and Mutants were created as an experiment, not with any intended outcome.
@@dracorex426 I believe as far as the Eternals and the mutant population of Humans and Inhumans are concerned, they were globally meant to act as 'antibodies' that would protect the planet Earth because it was in the interests of Celestials? I havent seen the movie, just heard bits, but I believe in the comics there is also a Celestial seed in the core of the planet and its in the Celestials best interests if these experiments protected that seed from other powerful entities like Galactus...... I believe, I'm pulling from old memory rn
@@dracorex426 in the movie it was revealed that the Celestials designed Deviants to function as the Apex predator of the planets they planned for Intelligent life to prosper on. The deviants original purpose was to eradicate any natural predators that would risk wiping out possible intelligent life. Think how Ancient Tigers and Hawks would hunt early humans.
But the Deviants on Earth evolved and went against their designed purpose and just started hunting specifically humans. Which forced the Celestials to create the Eternals who were designed to replace the Deviants and to hunt the deviants ensuring that humans wouldn’t go extinct, they were also tasked with not interfering too much in human culture, like they couldn’t stop wars or any major conflicts between humans since war between humans often leads to innovation and life saving tech being developed.
Mutants weren’t ever mentioned in the film, but it is implied that the deviants influenced and altered the life on all the planets they picked to host an unborn celestial.
So the MCU versions of these races were designed for a purpose by the Celestials but all of them later went against that purpose in different ways.
My roommate's leaned way too hard on conspiracies about aliens and the deep state, I'll gladly listen to a podcast that can make things feel more grounded. Great episode, Scott!
Eternals isn't the only sci-fi that does this, just the one that used actual bad theories. Two examples in my mind now is how Enterprise gave the credit for velcro to the Vulcans and how all technology is actually reverse engineering Megatron in Bay's Transformers. It takes things people have worked on for years and tosses out their achievements, skills, and creativity to be all science fictiony.
For what it’s worth, I once watched a very funny Ancient Aliens documentary on Hulu. And one of the first claims they made was that in the famous Oppenheimer quote, he was literally claiming that the Bhagavad Gita was a historical record of ancient space nukes.
I bought them when they hit the newsstand back in the day, and still have all of them. Kirby's artwork was amazing, no surprise there, but he amped it up for that series.
This video is 15% about The Eternals
and 85% about Ancient Alien theory
To make a good tinfoil hat, take a good load of aluminium, or whatever metal you prefer, and make a cylinder with multiple layers (I'd go for 3 minimum), then start crumbling the foil from your head upwards, as you reach the top of your head start twisting the foil above it to a handy grip/ tinfoil extension. Now you have a special hat that is exactly made for you, you special special boy/girl/thing/single celled organism/blob of the 6̶̨̨̡̨̧̢̡̨̡̢̢̢̧̡̢̧̨̧̧̡̡̟͖̳̻̣̥̱̞̹͔͙̜͖̞̬̞͇̹̝̯̯̳̙̗͖͎̻̺͇͓̣̤̯̫̪̖̼̱̲͇̠̜̖̩͙̤̲̺̮̙̘͚͍̻̣͙̫̞̬̼̦̺̱̠̦͈͈͚͙̟̜̣͎͓̞̗͔͉̩̗̫͓̟͓̣͖̱͉̮͔̖̠̤̙͚͙͇̟̹̹͍̗̜̲̼͍̗̮̞̥̺̠͖̭̦͎͚̩̦͓̠̫̪̥̳̳͉̹̹̰̭̱̩̣̤̹̮͍̼͎͓̼͔͎͎̙̼͈̟̤̼̥͓̗̤͍̦̬͓̹͔̮̰͉̮͕̤̗͙̞̘̭̲̬͎̣̙̣̱̘̪̤̼͇̪̠̯̙͕̱̪͚̞͇͚̱̣̳͙̼̩̙͚͉̰̝̜͓̣̠̩̗̩͚̘̓̓̔̿͋̈́̂͌͗̈́̍̽͛̋͗̒͐̈́͆́͐͌̅̏̏̈͌́̍̓̏̀̒̈́̆̌͗̉̐̒̽̄͛͋̚̚͘̕͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͠͝͠͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅ9̴̧̢̨̢̢̡̡̡̡̡̢̧̡̢̧̧̡̢̨̧̨̢̛̛̛̛͕̮̪̩̳̝̭̘͈͎̦̻͚͈̼͔̠̙̙͎͎̝̞̭̥͎͖̜̝̻͖̺̫͙̠̦͉̬͔͍̺̫̝̤̖̞̞͓͈͇̩̰̣̥͉͇̠̖͎̩͚̱̖̫̫̠͎̯̞͓̱̜̱̼̹͔̯̭̪̤̩̙͈͔͉̺̪̮̜̳̹̹̳̜͍͚̳͖͎͚̙̣̜̜̯̩͈̳͔̙̳͎̟̗͕͓̘̘͉͔̻͉̳͓͎̱̹͙̖̱̼̞͍̞̞̳͍̞͓͕͙͕̹̤̠̻͇͎̘͇̰̭͎͓̬̞̩̤̹͙̺͒͌̈̇̀͊̑̆̀̀̈́̔̌̎͛̈́̌̈́͆̉͆̈́̑͌͌̓͐̉͑͒̇̽̍̏̿̎͗͒́́̈́̌̃͊̐͗͂̀́̌̈́̄̔̔͌̔̋̋̊̈̊͑͊̇̎̅̈́͊̈́͗̐̿̿̑͗̾̀̀͗̌͗͒͂͋̈́͋̎̽͊̃̈͆͑͛̒͐̌́͊̆̀̍̌̀͆̀̿̄̾͗̀̇͆̅̈́̎̍͌͐͒́̃̒̉̾͊͛̆̏̑͛̋͒́̾̆̉̑͆͐̿͛̿̎̈͂̓̄̽͊͛́̎̐̍́͊͗̾̐͐̽̃͌̈́͛̀͗̄̑͆̓̃̽̊͛̀͐̿̐̒̓̾̓̈́̇̒̐̈̆͐͌̓͋̎̉̌̆͊̊̉̑͌̈́̇̀̂́̽̈̕̚̚̚̚̕̚̕͘̚̚̕̕͘̕͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͠͠͝͠ͅ dimension.
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Well, one could argue that without Chariot of the Gods there would be no Battle Star Galactica. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your fandom. (Some would claim LDS Apostle Parley P Pratt was a more influential source.)
"A shining planet, called UTAH."
@@ChrisMaxfieldActs Well, more like Missouri. Glen Larson lore gets weird, according to his son he refused to read a Nightman comic until after he wrote the pilot for the TV show.
@@ChrisMaxfieldActs I have heard that Pratt was the inspiration, the pitch that convince producers to fund it was Star Wars crossed with Chariots of the Gods. His son claims that he had been working on the idea for ten years, long before either of the other two were famous. One can even see its influence in some of his Six Million Dollar Man scripts. Anyone else remember Bigfoot turning out to be an alien cyborg?
I was sorta expecting a critique of Kirby's run on the Eternals, not a critique of a book that most people have forgotten existed. The Eternals also referenced the Bermuda Triangle and a lot of other new-age stuff. But then, comics were never known for having a serious grip on science. Ikd, the video seems like a big step sideways. If you want to do a hot take on ancient alien theory, cool do that. If you want to critique Kirby's Eternals, cool do that. But maybe don't use one for the sole focus of the other
I listen to podcasts every day at work, usually critical role, but you just got added to the playlist baby! You both even get added to my podcast app on the same day! Woo!
Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be about Jack Kirby and the Eternals? Instead I got yet another video shitting on ancient aliens, one of the easiest targets around.
Oh and commercials for subpar cereal and podcasts.
At least he admits it at the end!
The let Meredith die line made my day. Thank you Scott.
21:03 Holy shit, seeing THE MEME MAN in his younger days, before he got the insane hair... it gives me an undescribable feeling
“We’re these dragons truly… dragons??” Lmao
this was alot more entertaining than i thought it would be from the title lmao
have you recovered your files dude
There is a saying that any technology sufficiently advanced is indifferent to magic in its classification...well I'd say that if a civilization smart enough for inter stellar travel had not only visited us but it had been thousands of years ago their tech would be Magic to us for it to last that long...and as we havent found real evidence of such magic technology there is no evidence of it
Well I didn't expect ancient aliens and breakfast this morning, but here we are. Great video 👍
I'm actually glad you barely talked about Eternals because I don't know or care about it. I clicked because I care about you and needed a long vid to play in the background.
Aliens, tho... 😘👌
Wait sorry it was VISUALLY boring to you?! Scott I love you man but like the visuals were one of the few redeeming qualities of this film. How did you not love the Celestial shots or at least semi like the gold magic stuff. First time I’ve heard anyone call the movie visually boring
Yeah, sorry, maybe it'll change upon a rewatch, but I can't think of a moment that stands out to me visually
@@NerdSyncProductions No need to be sorry, was just a bit shocked. To be fair, apart from some tracking shots and Arishem, there’s not much else that stands out to me. And yes, the cinematography is pretty standard. I was thinking more about the vfx I guess
I thought the movie looked gorgeous. It wasn't super colorful like a Thor: Ragnarok or like the comic that Scott held up. And maybe people familiar with the source material would have preferred it that way, and maybe it would have been better. But that's not the style the were going for and for what they chose to do I thought it was really well done.
I completely disagree with your review about Eternals, I loved the slow-burn expository approach of the movie, it felt like I was watching a sci-fi mythology movie. Eternals also has some fantastic visual imagery that's so memorable. So yeah, I loved Eternals.
That being said, thank you for highlighting the problematic elements of Eternals source material. Jack Kirby was a Jewish man so I don't think he was ever a religious believer of The Chariot of the Gods theory.
"Sloe burn" and "nothing is happening except exposition" are very different
I begged for Scott to get to the part where his description of Eternals was literally just Ancient Aliens.
Then I realized he never watched it. I screamed at the screen for him to save himself while he still could.
Excellent video.
I love how you build your narrative and how the story you tell has a cast and tone. Very, very well researched, too!
Keep killing it!!!
This video has been so validating for its explicit callout of the racist mindsets that underly these sorts of alien conspiracies.
I spent my childhood reading any (legitimate) literature I could find on Mayan culture and legends, and it was always so insulting to have to entertain other people’s “opinions” and “theories” defending the skepticism that von Daniken and others like him fostered.
I’m always here for the Nerdsync-signature Context behind the Content 💖
which is a distortion of what skepticism actually is. If a person has concluded that these ancient astronaut ideas are true then they are a very very poor skeptic indeed.
Not what I was expecting from my favorite Scooby-Doo lore channel, but this was quite well done.
I laugh at so many of Ancient Aliens’ leaps. Like the plane/bird thing. They imply birds somehow AREN’T aerodynamic. 🤣
At one point in my teens ancient aliens caught my curiosity (as esoterism etc) before i snapped out of it; And as a latino i can garantee it wasnt any underlying racism that explained my interest (for example i wondered egyptians made the piramids as homage or worship to then, but human made). I have no doubt theres a lot of that going into it for many people, as racism has (still is) used any and everything to try and justify its nonsense... But im sure the main draw is the same one that grasps ufologists to estorecists (ive met many in the past) - wich is the oldest draw in human history: a answer to everything. Our need for answers, meaning, something tying and explaining everything... you know, like gods, religion... those things that have always attracted us but now face a much harder time being believed in face of evidences since scientific tought rose up.
So no surprise a wild theory explaining us on earth and connecting everything more scientific sounding catched on. Heck theres nowadays a very rich church based entirely on pseud-scientific mumbo jumbo that catchs people with science on its name...
Im talking from personal experience and the many people ive met with similar interests. It was why i also looked into mysticism/esoterism, also why i jumped between various religions too- i wanted answers. I wondered if there were something more. But im sceptic by heart and self aware enough to snap out of it, unlike so many still.
The chariot of gods racist author aside i think this have more to do with how little we know of non eurocentric cultures; The less we know about something the more fertile it is for folk to come up with crazy theories and hoaxes around it. By the same extent they choose what to focus and ignore, people saying its all and only racism chooses to ignore stonehange or the bible (so central to western culture). If you were to look closer at the theories around humans being originated from aliens directly or not (please dont, theyre all nonsense) most invent and fantasize around all humanity, also coming with crazy nonsense in regards to indo-european development and whatnot- because its further in the past (less know).
As another example, now in esoterism, some people have crazy theories around norse culture and their gods (trying to tie into other things as well), but i never saw the same been done to the celts- because end of the day we had more documentation on the celts from the romans and later irish monks then we ever did the norse... Same kind of thing, the less know the easier it is for lies to spread.
But sure, theres a bunch of racists too. It took me years to find some, only after ive mastered english and saw discussions online around those topics as when i argued with people who, upon the slightest inquiry revealed what they really wanted- to justify their racists povs. Before ive met white english speaking ancient aliens proponents ive never saw any of that... and i dont mean to say all white/european/americans ancient-aliens whatever are racists either, just that those lines of 'tought'(bigotry) run stronger in some countries then others and they sip into every niche, new age mumbo jumbo not excluded.
This was fun Scott, I'm happy that probs not aliens is getting some promotion.😄
Y’all, I know I sound like a broken record when it comes to how much I enjoy & admire Scott’s work, but no less than half a dozen times in watching this video, I started to draft a question or quip into a tweet only to have Scott address it moments later in the video.
Once again, an excellent video. Written, narrated and edited in a very polite and professional way, it delivers unusual and sometimes unpopular but documented contents that will inspire listeners to use their brains. And without any doubt, this is the most intelligent approach and genuine love for comic books I've ever seen. The work you do is really very precious.
Titles video "The Eternals comics are also bad", tricks everyone into watching a half-hour takedown of "Ancient Aliens" BOLD MOVE, SCOTT.