There are times when the universe works in strange ways to grant our greatest wishes. This appears to be the case for Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who has long harbored ambitions of becoming a superhero. Surprisingly, his dream was granted when he was chosen to star in Marvel Studios’ Eternals. What is even more amazing is that he sent a tweet to the late Stan Lee six years ago, seemingly predicting this.
Back in 2013, the Irish actor teased his role in Chloé Zhao’s 2021 Marvel flick. Keoghan donned the role of Druig in a $402.1 million film for Phase 4 of the MCU. Long before he would play a superhero role in Eternals, in early 2013, Keoghan asked Stan Lee to turn him into a superhero on Twitter. For the unversed, Lee led Marvel’s creative team and co-created many of the company’s most famous characters, including the X-Men, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and others.
Also read: “Thank God, it’s mine”: Euphoria Star Was Proud of Barry Keoghan “Guzzling” His Sperm
How did Barry Keoghan Manifest his Eternals Role?
As an aspiring actor who began his acting career in 2011, Barry Keoghan took a chance in 2013 and tweeted to the acclaimed comic book writer Stan Lee. In a tweet, the 31-year-old actor politely asked if the late comic book writer would consider making him a superhero. He probably predicted it six years before donning the Druig role. But little did he know that his tweet would ultimately be a major factor in his being chosen for Eternals. Look at his tweet below.
@TheRealStanLee Stan Lee, Please Make me a SuperHero :).
— Barry Keoghan (@BarryKeoghan) January 11, 2013
The actor portrayed an aloof Eternal, Druig, who grows irritated with the other Eternals’ indifference to human affairs. He is capable of controlling people’s thoughts. In 2019, Keoghan retweeted his tweet, adding, “2013… The power of Belief,” after landing the role of Druig in Eternals. He used a heart and a wolf as emojis. Take a look at his tweet below:
2013….The power of Belief
❤️🐺 @MarvelStudios https://t.co/vjnHKePfBg— Barry Keoghan (@BarryKeoghan) August 24, 2019
Well, note that the terrifying antagonist in Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2017 film The Killing of a Sacred Deer served as Keoghan’s big breakthrough role. The film brought him a lot of praise while also getting nominations for the Independent Spirit and AACTA International Awards, among other honors.
Since then, his roles in the critically acclaimed films Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan and the HBO miniseries Chernobyl—which took home the 2019 Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film—have helped Keoghan gain greater recognition.
Barry Keoghan’s Hypothesis for the Varying Reviews of Eternals
Chloé Zhao’s Eternals did not live up to the hype when it was released, especially for a Marvel production. The 156-minute film received mixed reviews, making it the MCU movie with the lowest rating.
In an interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via ComicBookMovie), Barry Keoghan discussed the movie’s underwhelming reception. According to his theory, Zhao’s distinct style, which she incorporates into all of her films, caught Marvel moviegoers off guard.
Since Keoghan claimed that this was “new” to the Marvel community, he assumed that most of the disconnect stemmed from there.
“I think Chloe [Zhao] brought a whole kind of feel to it. You know? So Chloe brings – as you’ve seen from her past films – raw performances and really, really touching performances. I don’t think it was… I think it was new. I think it was just new. It was new for the Marvel world.”
Keoghan also commented on the reports that a sequel to Eternals is in the works. He acknowledged that he did discuss the possibility at some point, but he will not confirm or deny anything specific. The actor said he was “optimistic” about Druig’s return to the big screen soon.
“I didn’t get a chance to chat with her too much, but yeah. I’m always optimistic, always. I wanna know what Druig is doing right now. Anyway, we’ll see. You’re not going to get that out of me. I know nothing!”
Despite grossing $402 million worldwide and garnering multiple nominations and awards, Eternals was the first in the MCU to be met with unfavorable reviews. Barry Keoghan will next be seen as Jack in the upcoming thriller Bring Them Down, written and directed by Chris Andrews.
You can watch Eternals on Disney Plus.
