WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Eternals, now playing in theaters.

Eternals introduces a new breed of enemy with the Deviants. At a glance, they represent nothing more than predatory creatures who want to feed on humanity. As a result, the Eternals are sent in to eradicate them and safeguard humankind in the process. But after centuries, one Deviant, Kro, becomes capable of rapid evolution by absorbing the Cosmic Energy within the Eternals with his tentacles. Considering no other Deviants have this capability, the reason Kro has this skill may be that he absorbed an entity from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Throughout Eternals, Kro endures a few stages of evolution. He begins as a quadruped but eventually becomes more humanoid after absorbing the abilities of the Eternals he kills. By nature, all Deviants are capable of evolution. But the speed at which Kro changes is what causes concern for the Eternals who have faced him. Unfortunately, the film never shows how Kro obtains the skill to absorb the energy, but Shang-Chi has creatures known as Soul Eaters that can absorb the souls of their victims.

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Soul Eaters are an extension of Shang-Chi's true villain, the Dweller-in-Darkness. The Dweller is imprisoned in the dimension of Ta Lo and guarded behind a wall of dragon scales. However, when Wenwu arrives to destroy the door, the Dweller breaks free. Working with the Soul Eaters, the Dweller consumes dozens of souls, allowing it to gain even more strength. These creatures steal souls via a collection of tentacles that grab onto their prey. Those same tentacles then pull the souls out of their victims, leaving their lifeless bodies behind.

Kro similarly uses his tentacles by binding his prey and using two sharp tendrils to pierce the neck of the Eternal. Through the tendrils, he absorbs the energy, getting stronger in the process. Considering the Eternals may not technically have souls, as they are engineered, Cosmic Energy could be the next best thing. Furthermore, Eternals never states that Kro can't steal the souls of any other organic lifeform.

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While the two creatures seem as though they could have never met, the Dweller has existed for millennia. In that time, it's not impossible to think that the other attempts to free the being knocked loose some Soul Eaters. As a result of crossing the portal into Earth, a Soul Eater could've interacted with Kro, who consumed it, perhaps while it was holding a soul, and altered his DNA. Ying Nan states in the film that Ta Lo's history goes back thousands of years, meaning that anything could have happened in that timeframe.

Kro is one of the most unique Deviants in Eternals. While his history isn't thoroughly explored, the MCU has shown on many occasions that even the smallest moments could have a significant impact. In this case, it's entirely possible that a Soul Eater somehow got caught in Kro's grip and became the catalyst for its evolution. Considering the Celestial's creations aren't technically organic, it also explains how he could defeat something like a Soul Eater when regular humans can't without dragon scale weapons. For now, the idea is purely speculative but shows how unique each character is becoming as the MCU continues to grow.

Eternals is currently in theaters and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is streaming now on Disney+.

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