Phastos is a fictional character appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
. Created by
Peter B. Gillis and
Sal Buscema
Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...
, the character first appeared in ''
The Eternals'' (vol. 2) #1 (October 1985). He is a member of the
Eternals, a human offshoot race in the
Marvel Universe.
Brian Tyree Henry
Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta (TV series), Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he recei ...
portrays Phastos in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
film ''
Eternals'' (2021).
Publication history
Phastos first appeared in ''
The Eternals'' (vol. 2) #1 (October 1985), created by writer
Peter B. Gillis and artist
Sal Buscema
Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...
.
Fictional character biography
Phastos's history is very murky. He is a third or fourth generation Eternal who chose to remain on Earth because of his obsessive search for an unidentified item or person. He continues to serve as the master technologist of the Eternal race, and it was his genius which allowed
Virako to return from apparent death. Although he despises
war, Phastos chose to follow
Ikaris into battle against the minions of
Apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
.
Phastos is shown living under the name Phillip Stoss, before having his real identity revealed to him.
Powers and abilities
As an Eternal, Phastos has superhuman speed, strength, durability, and is immortal.
He can project "Cosmic Energy" in the form of beams from his eyes and hands.
His cosmic energy manipulation allows flight, illusion generation, matter transmutation, and teleportation.
Phastos carries a special hammer capable of firing bolts of an unknown energy and is a brilliant engineer, technologist and inventor.
Other versions
Earth-90559
On Earth-90559 in the year 2115 AD, Phastos and Ajak were shown to have been trapped in the Uni-Mind.
Marvel 2099
In the unified
Marvel 2099 reality of Earth-2099, Phastos was seen as a member of the
2099 version of the Avengers. He was among those who were massacred by the
2099 version of the Masters of Evil. Their deaths were later avenged by the
2099 version of the New Avengers who defeated the Masters of Evil and remanded them to a prison on the planet Wakanda.
In other media
Film
* Phastos appears in ''
Eternals'', portrayed by
Brian Tyree Henry
Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta (TV series), Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he recei ...
.
He is an Eternal and an intelligent weapons and technology inventor.
He is the first superhero to be depicted as gay in an MCU film.
Phastos was sent to Earth in 5,000 BC to progress the planet's societal development, and protect it from the
Deviants. He guided and progressed many technological revolutions throughout the course of human history, but fell into a state of dejection when he realized that the tools he introduced to humanity were used in August 1945 to create the
first atom bomb which resulted in monumental loss of human life. Blaming himself, he grew distant from his fellow Eternals. In the present day, Phastos settled and started a family with his husband Ben and they raised a son named Jack. He met again with the Eternals to prevent a new wave of Deviants led by
Kro, and realized their true purpose; to pave the way for the Emergence of Earth, which would lead to the birth of Tiamut and result in the destruction of the planet. The Eternals were divided, with Phastos sidestepping to protect the planet and prevent the Emergence from occurring. By choosing to save the planet and its occupants rather than allow the Emergence to occur, Phastos was abducted from Earth by
Arishem (who plans to observe their memories to see if humanity is worthy enough to live) to places unknown.
Notes
References
Phastosat the Marvel Directory
*
External links
The Eternalsat the Marvel Universe
Phastosat the Marvel Database Project
{{Eternals
Characters created by Sal Buscema
Comics characters introduced in 1985
Eternals (comics)
Fictional engineers
Fictional hammer fighters
Fictional inventors in comics
Fictional LGBTQ characters in film
Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Marvel Comics characters who can teleport
Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength