The following contains spoilers for Eternals #11, now on sale from Marvel Comics
The Eternals have always been considered some of Marvel's most uniquely powerful beings, capable of upholding their Celestial appointed form of justice. But that doesn't mean they're necessarily
The Eternals and the Avengers are poised to go up against one another in the upcoming Judgement Day storyline -- and if their confrontation in Eternals #11 by Kieron Gillen, Guiu Vilanova, Matthew Wilson, and VC's Clayton Cowles is any indication, the Avengers have an early advantage over their enemies.
The Eternals and the Avengers have been on a crash course since the Ajak realized Earth's Mightiest Heroes were using the corpse of a Celestial as their current base of operations. It's all building to the events of Judgement Day, which will reportedly see the X-Men and the Eternals openly combating one another for the future of mutants in the Marvel Universe. But the Avengers and Eternals have officially begun to throw down, with the latter group devising a plan to keep the heroes distracted while Ajax communes with the spirit of the dead Celestial inside Avengers Mountain.
This involves Kingo going up against Black Panther and Captain America, while Iron Man, Thor, Captain Marvel, and Phoenix face off with Ikaris, Thena, and Gilgamesh. Although the Eternals are able to save a small town from Thanos' machinations, they refuse to give the Avengers a straight answer and instead engage them in combat. Notably, both fights do largely accomplish their mission, and give Ajak more time in Avengers Mountain.
But it's also evident from the onset that the splintered Eternals don't stand a chance in their fight against the Avengers. While the Eternals are all dangerous in their own right -- and their respective powers make them specifically dangerous to certain figures like Cable -- the current Avengers roster is a ridiculously powerful band of heroes, counting multiple powerhouses just among their active roster.
Even while Namor and Starbrand are distracted from the battle by Sersi and Sprite respectively, the Eternals are shown having difficult times against the other heroes. Kingo is a strong enough fighter that he can keep up with Captain America and Black Panther simultaneously -- but the narration makes it clear that he won't be able to win the fight. Meanwhile, Phoenix is removed from the fight and Gilgamesh is able to utilize Captain Marvel's Kree side to target her, but Thor is quick to bring down Thena and Ikaris suffers a serious barrage courtesy of Iron Man. As the fight carries on, Thena is able to note these are "significant beings" that even they won't be able to hold back forever.
It serves as a good reminder that despite their Celestial-given abilities, the Eternals aren't the strongest beings in the Marvel Universe. Beings like Thor are enough to hold them back, and this will likely make the Avengers a serious deciding factor in the coming conflict between the X-Men and the Eternals. It's their allegiance that may decide the future of the Marvel Universe, especially considering their capability of fighting off the primary Eternals with only some of their numbers and on the fly.
It's worth considering how dangerous the Avengers could become to the Eternals if they had time to prepare a strategy and truly meet the team on an even battlefield. The Eternals may need backup if they want any hope of truly changing the world -- but with Thanos commanding the rest of the Eternals society, that might end up becoming a serious problem quicker than anyone realizes.
