WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Eternals #1 by Kieron Gillen, Esad Ribić, Matthew Wilson, and VC's Clayton Cowles, in stores now.
After their most recent appearance in the Marvel Universe ended with their complete massacre, the Eternals have finally lived up to their name and resumed their unending lives. As shown in Eternals #1, this latest awakening encompasses almost all of the Eternals, leading to more questionable Eternals also being allowed to continue their previous course of actions.
While most may be concerned with the return of the Eternals' worst offspring, this issue also features the revival of one of Marvel's greatest threats in the most unassuming form possible, the child-like Eternal, Sprite.
Following his own "resurrection," Ikaris finds himself located at the Exclusion, one of many secret locations that form the home and base of the Eternals. Unlike other locations, however, this place also holds the many Eternals that have committed crimes that are seen as unforgivable. As they cannot die, they have been merely excluded and locked away from the eternal process that has dictated the Eternals' lives. Yet, being contacted by Zuras, the Eternal Prime, Ikaris is ordered to release Sprite, a decision that he openly berates. In his own words, when one releases Sprite into the world, "Expect chaos".
Within the Eternals, Sprite can be seen as their own variation of Loki. As a trickster and lover of mischief, Sprite has spent their life constantly taunting the Eternals and playing pranks on mankind through the use of illusions. In fact, their antics have left many marks on the history of humanity, including serving as the source of inspiration for Peter Pan. Despite sharing the same prolonged life as the others, Sprite's appearance has always remained as that of an 11-year old child. Previously, that body was in the form of a small boy, but with this return, Sprite has now taken the form of a girl, matching closer to her eventual film debut in the MCU. Even relegated to a smaller body, Sprite remains as dangerous as ever.
Although Sprite spent most of their life playing harmless jokes, there eventually came a point where the little Eternal grew tired of their eternal childhood. Unlike the others, Sprite could not pursue relationships, since they were seen as a child by both the fellow Eternals and all of humanity. The Eternal merely wanted the chance to grow up and live a life like the others. To accomplish this goal, Sprite used their illusion abilities to plant the seeds for a change in their reality. Using the Dreaming Celestial, who was in a state of deep slumber, Sprite stole the unconscious bodies of Zuras and Ajak to form a Uni-Mind that granted them control over the Celestials' powers. At that moment, Sprite could have changed reality in any manner they desired. Instead, they merely made a wish to be human and to remove the existence of the Eternals by erasing their memories and powers.
In their new life, Sprite took on the identity of a child actor by the name of Colin, starring in a show entitled, "That's So Sprite". Basking in the limelight and enjoying the future that awaited them, Sprite held no interest in the ramifications of a world without the Eternals. As the Eternals lived human lives, unaware of their history, their longtime opponents, the Deviants, rose again and the world was also nearly consumed by the unchecked power of the Dreaming Celestial.
After these threats were dealt with and their actions had come to light, Sprite went on the run and attempted to hide away from the punishment that awaited them. As a child, there was never any chance of fully concealing themselves, which led Zuras to find Sprite on a train towards San Francisco. Sprite maintained that there were no regrets for their actions amid their tears as Zuras snapped the former Eternal's neck and left the child's body at their seat.
Currently, the revived Sprite holds no memories of her former actions, even showing regret when told of her deeds. But, given her extreme cleverness, it shouldn't be long before Sprite finds the next great means of creating chaos in the world and causing trouble for the Eternals. Also, as a child, Sprite remains an unassuming threat, one that even the likes of Iron Man cannot recognize before him.