Ever since MCU’s 26th movie Eternals was released in theaters, one question was asked a lot among the fans — Is Ikaris actually Marvel’s rip-off of DC’s Superman. I mean, look at him, he can fly, he’s got super-strength, and he can shoot laser beams out of his eyes. When we also add the fact that they’re both pretty handsome, one would think that the only difference is that Ikaris isn’t wearing a cape.
Superman was played by numerous actors on both the small and the big screen during the long history of the character. On the other hand, Game of Thrones star Richard Madden debuted as the first-ever live-action Ikaris in Chloé Zhao’s MCU movie Eternals. The movie even had the reference to Superman himself, in which Ikaris made it clear that he’s not wearing a cape. But, is that really the only difference? Director Chloé Zhao now clarified that:
“We wanted to make sure that we separated Ikaris from Superman as much as possible. Superman has heat vision while [Ikaris] has more of an energy blast. So, in creating the sound for [Ikaris]’ eye beams, [sound designer] Addison [Teague] put more [emphasis] on the power, the sound of power, impact, and pressure so that it has a very unique sound.” — Chloé Zhao
Eternals was released last September and it received mixed reviews from critics and the audience. The movie grossed $402 million worldwide. The star-studded cast includes Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie. The end of the movie confirmed the Eternals will return, but it didn’t specify which ones and when (or how) could we see Ikaris shooting his laser beams again.
