Who Is Kro In The Final Trailer For Marvel's Eternals?
The final trailer for "Marvel's Eternals," director Chloe Zhao's enormous upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Four movie, gives us fans our best look yet at the characters and plot of the film. The trailer confirms that the energy released by the Hulk's (Mark Ruffalo) population-resurrecting Infinity Gauntlet snap in "Avengers: Endgame" awakened a new threat from the evil Deviants, which is what brings the benevolent aliens known as the Eternals out of hiding to finally fight to protect their adoptive home of Earth. We get to see some of the character dynamics and Brian Tyree Henry's witty tech guru Phastos seems sure to be a fan favorite. We see our first Celestial. And we finally get a clear look at the Deviants.
The main Deviant and "Eternals" antagonist in the film seems to be Kro, whose presence in "Eternals" has been spoiled by merchandise leaks (via Comicbook) but not officially revealed until now. Kro is a familiar character to Marvel comic readers. He looks different in "Eternals" than he usually does, but he does have shape-shifting powers, so that's not a huge deal. Here's what we know about who Kro is, both as a character and who's playing him in "Eternals," information which has not been announced by Marvel.
Kro is the most important Deviant
In the trailer, Kro is seen binding Thena (Angelina Jolie) up in his ropelike golden tentacles. He pulls her closer to him and strokes her face while she resists. He has a humanoid shape, but he's very large, almost twice as tall as Thena. He's greenish, covered in sinewy muscle, and has four eyes, two on each side. Kro doesn't have much faith in humanity's survival. In voiceover, Thena says to him, "We have loved these people" — meaning humans – "since the day we arrived. When you love something, you protect it."
"You can't protect any of them," he responds.
According to Fandom's Marvel Database, Kro in the comics is something of an antihero. He's a general of the Deviants whose powers include longevity and near-indestructibility and shapeshifting — he can change the way his face looks. The other Deviants don't know about his semi-immortality, and he has used his shapeshifting ability to change his appearance and keep from being found out. In his interactions with humans, he's often believed to be the Devil. He is the secret lover of Thena, and their relationship has put his loyalties closer to the Eternals than the Deviants on many occasions. They are the parents of twins, who as Eternal-Deviant hybrids are chosen ones, though that storyline may not appear in "Eternals."
Who is playing Kro?
Marvel has not yet revealed who is providing the voice and/or motion capture for Kro, but the prevailing fan theory is that he's played by Dan Stevens, the "Legion" and "Downton Abbey" star who previously provided the voice and motion capture for the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast."
The Stevens theory comes from a 2019 Instagram post by "Eternals" star Kumail Nanjiani (via Reddit), who shared a photo of himself, his wife Emily V. Gordon, Stevens, and Brian Tyree Henry hanging out in London, where "Eternals" was filming at the time. It could have just been London resident Stevens hanging out with his friends and not a hint that he's in the movie, or it could have been a spoiler. We just don't know yet. Marvel will confirm who's playing Kro when they're good and ready. They still technically haven't even confirmed that the character in the trailer is Kro.
But the Kro in the trailer doesn't not sound like Dan Stevens.