Latest news with #ElEternauta
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- The Guardian
Netflix series reignites search for family of creator disappeared by Argentina dictatorship
When Héctor Germán Oesterheld wrote his horror comic strip El Eternauta in 1957, it was simply a piece of speculative fiction. Set in Buenos Aires, the story begins when toxic snow begins to fall, killing all of those it touches. As the world descends into chaos, humans turn on one another, and the hero is forced to fight to survive. Two decades after the comic was first published, the story gained a darker, more sinister edge, when leftist Oesterheld and most of his family were forcibly disappeared by Argentina's military dictatorship. 'El Eternauta was a parallel of what happened to Argentina, what happened to me,' said the author's widow, Elsa Sánchez de Oesterheld, before her death in 2015. 'My family was destroyed just as our country was destroyed.' Now, a Netflix adaptation of the comic has reignited interest in the Oesterheld family – and in particular, in the fate of Oesterheld's two possible grandchildren. During its 1976-83 assault on Argentina's citizens, the military crushed any potential opposition, killing or disappearing an estimated 30,000 people. Included in that number were Oesterheld, his four daughters and his four sons-in-laws. To date, their exact fate remains unknown. And because two of the daughters were pregnant at the time of their disappearance, so is the fate of Oesterheld's two potential grandchildren. One would be the child of Diana Oesterheld, who was 23 when she was abducted in 1976, and six months pregnant. The other would be the child of Marina Oesterheld, abducted in 1977 at the age of 20 while eight months pregnant. Under the military dictatorship, pregnant prisoners were often kept alive until they gave birth. Afterwards they were murdered – some thrown alive from so-called death flights – and their newborns given to military couples to raise as their own. An estimated 500 babies were stolen. Following the premier of the streaming adaptation of El Eternauta, the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, who have spent decades searching for the stolen children, and the human rights organisation Hijos have launched a new public appeal. 'Did you know that two grandchildren of the creator of El Eternauta are missing and could be alive?' Hijos posted online. 'If you were born in November 1976 or between November 1977 and January 1978 and have doubts about your identity or know someone who does, we'll tell you who your grandmothers could be.' The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo have been searching tirelessly for the missing grandchildren for decades. Oesterheld's widow, Elsa, joined the organisation in the 1980s. 'She looked for her missing grandchildren until she died,' said Claudia Victoria Poblete Hlaczik, a spokesperson for the Abuelas, who herself was kidnapped as a child by the dictatorship and later reunited with her family. 'The search has continued all of these years, for these grandchildren, and for all the other 300 still missing.' Poblete Hlaczik said the grandchildren would be around 47 or 48 years old, and likely living unknowingly under false identities. 'These crimes continue until their identities are restored,' she said. The renewed search also comes at a critical moment, with the administration of Javier Milei sharply defunding policies aimed at preserving historical memory. Several officials – including the president – have been accused of promoting denialist narratives and disputing the number of people disappeared by the dictatorship. As part of Milei's sweeping spending cuts, hundreds of employees have been dismissed from the country's human rights secretariat and the justice ministry. And in August 2024, the government shut down a unit that had played a crucial role in identifying babies illegally taken during the dictatorship. Poblete Hlaczik said she hopes the adaptation of El Eternauta will bring attention to the values of 'truth, memory and justice' in these days of 'denialism'. 'El Eternauta speaks of human values of charity, courage and collective efforts – which is very important during these times of individualism,' she added. She said there is still hope to find the missing grandchildren despite the current challenges: in January, the 139th grandchild was identified. Before her death, Sánchez de Oesterheld said she hoped her lost grandchildren will one day 'know who they are and where they belong, their origins, their roots'. 'My struggle all these years is so that my grandchildren know their truth,' she said.
Newsweek
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
What Does Eternaut Mean? Breaking Down Netflix's Latest Sci-Fi Series
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Netflix's new series The Eternaut has introduced a haunting vision of survival and resistance to international viewers, marking a milestone for Latin American science fiction on the global stage. The six-episode series, based on the iconic Argentine comic El Eternauta, debuted April 30, and quickly became a popular non-English language show on the platform. Set in Buenos Aires, The Eternaut follows Juan Salvo and a group of survivors as they battle a mysterious snowfall that kills on contact. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the snowstorm is only the beginning of a much larger extraterrestrial invasion, transforming the streets of the Argentine capital into a war zone. The Context Originally written in 1957 by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and illustrated by Francisco Solano López, El Eternauta holds a powerful place in Argentine culture, known for its themes of resistance, solidarity, and survival under authoritarianism. The comic is often read as a political allegory, particularly resonant due to the author's disappearance under Argentina's last military dictatorship, according to the Buenos Aires Herald. "It is not the first time that we have made a big production, but this was the first big one based on Argentinian intellectual property," producer Matías Mosteirin from K&S Productions told Deadline. "We couldn't fail because it's a property with a very strong fandom and it was a great treasure for us as artists." What To Know The cast is led by award-winning actor Ricardo Darín who portrays Salvo. Other key cast members include Carla Peterson, Andrea Pietra, and César Troncoso. The series was created and directed by Bruno Stagnaro. The series is presented in Spanish, maintaining the language of its source material and reinforcing its cultural specificity. The series received a 94 percent Certified Fresh score from Rotten Tomatoes. What Does "Eternaut" Mean in English? The word "eternaut" blends "eternity" and "astronaut" to evoke the idea of a timeless traveler. "Eternity" stems from the Latin word aeternus, meaning everlasting, while the suffix "-naut" originates from the Greek word nautes (sailor), as seen in "astronaut," which combines astron (star) and nautes, ScreenRant reported. Although The Eternaut does not involve space exploration, the title suggests a figure journeying endlessly across time and existential dimensions. Where Was 'The Eternaut' Filmed? The Eternaut was filmed in Buenos Aires. According to Moviedelic, the production team utilized 35 real-world locations spanning three regions, along with 25 virtual sets, to craft immersive environments that captured the series' post-apocalyptic atmosphere. The decision to film in the Argentine capital helps ground the series in its cultural context and preserves the geographic authenticity of the original narrative. Will There Be a Season 2 of 'The Eternaut?' Yes. Netflix has officially confirmed that The Eternaut will return for a second and final season. The follow-up will include eight episodes and aims to conclude the adaptation of the original comic book storyline. According to Deadline, the second season will expand on the sci-fi themes introduced in the first and delve deeper into the alien conflict and its implications for humanity. "We can sustain it for a second season, but no more than that," Mosteirin told Deadline. "We feel that, artistically, that is the cycle to we need to sustain the mystique and the adventure of making the show. We want to challenge ourselves in the second season just as we challenged ourselves in the first one. We want to go for more, technically and creatively. We want to use all the knowledge we gained to do things on the second season that we didn't manage to do on the first." What People Are Saying Series creator and director Bruno Stagnaro told Netflix's Tudum: "[The Eternaut] was one of the first things I read in full in my life, when I was 10 years old. My approach to the adaptation will be to be faithful to that child reader who came across the story for the first time, to try to reconstruct the genuine emotion of living an adventure on the corner of your neighborhood, and the construction of that great Argentine hero that is Juan Salvo." X, formerly Twitter, user @darthmorley posted about the show on Sunday: "Just finished watching the first season of The Eternaut on Netflix. An Argentinian (yes, Argentinian) sci-fi show based on an old comic from the late 1950s. All I can say is wow! Fantastic story, characters & production. Can't wait for season two!"
Malay Mail
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
‘The Eternaut': Actor Ricardo Darin explores tyranny and resistance in Netflix's adaptation of Argentina's iconic comic
BUENOS AIRES, MAY 1 — Survival through teamwork: It's a tale as old as time with particular resonance today, says Argentine actor Ricardo Darin of his latest project The Eternaut, which hit Netflix yesterday. Based on a 1950s comic with iconic status in the South American country, the sci-fi series tells the story of a mysterious, toxic snowfall that precedes an alien invasion of Buenos Aires. More elementally, it is about ordinary people with few resources and no special powers who collectively stare down a totalitarian threat, Darin, 68, told AFP in an interview. (From left) Argentine businessman Hugo Sigman and Argentine film producers Leticia Cristi and Matias Mosteirin pose during the premiere of the Netflix streaming series 'El Eternauta' (The Eternaut) in Buenos Aires April 29, 2025. — AFP pic 'The communities that managed to survive were those that stood shoulder to shoulder, defended themselves, and did not care only about what happened to them individually,' he said of the storyline. In this way, the series 'resonates' with the present, said Darin, though he declined to specify which threat in particular he was referring to. Directed and scripted by Argentina's Bruno Stagnaro, The Eternaut is based on the comic by the same name serialised by writer Hector Oesterheld and illustrator Francisco Solano Lopez between 1957 and 1959. Oesterheld took the series up again in the 1960s, with ever-more political overtones that are believed to have contributed to his kidnapping in 1977 under Argentina's brutal military dictatorship. He was never heard from again, nor were his four daughters and three sons-in-law, all of whom figure among the estimated 30,000 people listed as 'disappeared' by agents of the dictatorship, according to rights groups. Argentine actor Ricardo Darin poses during the premiere of the Netflix streaming series 'El Eternauta' (The Eternaut) in Buenos Aires on April 29, 2025. The story follows a group of survivors facing a mysterious deadly snowfall that, during the height of summer in Buenos Aires, kills everything it touches? toxic snowstorm that masks the first wave of an invading alien army. — AFP pic 'Very, very hard work' Darin, known for his roles in the films Nine Queens, Wild Tales, and The Secret in Their Eyes — which won the Oscar for best international feature in 2010 — said he was scared at first of playing Juan Salvo, the resistance hero in The Eternaut. He had no background in science fiction and had to do demanding stunts. 'Physically, it was very, very hard work,' the actor said. 'Each day, the end of filming found us exhausted, and with little recovery time.' Darin took part in 113 of the 148 days of shooting, often decked out in Salvo's heavy snow-proof outfit on sets covered with tons of cumbersome artificial snow. 'Not to mention the things that happen in an action shoot, where you have to roll, jump, fall, crash, fight; a series of things that when you're 25 or 30 years old, it's nothing, but for me, who is 114...' he laughed. Darin is hopeful the series will be a boost for Argentine cinema at a time the government of budget-slashing President Javier Milei has withdrawn state support for the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, and for culture in general. 'Nothing like this has ever been done here,' said Darin of the project. — AFP
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘The Eternaut' Review: Netflix Gives a Genre Classic New Life
One true thing to say about Netflix's perfectly decent alien-invasion series 'The Eternaut': It's not bad, but you really should read the book first. If you can find a copy, that is. I discovered 'El Eternauta,' a bit of pulp perfection published as a comic strip in Argentina beginning in 1957, when Fantagraphics Books put it out as a deluxe graphic novel in 2015 (the first time it was translated into English). The beautifully packaged volume cost $50, so I got mine from the library. Jump to this year, when Netflix announced its live-action 'Eternaut' adaptation and I went looking for the book again. Already out of print, it was now $350 a copy from online resellers. And in a no doubt related development, the New York Public Library no longer had any on its shelves. (A Fantagraphics representative said that a reissue is being considered but no decision has been made.) English-only readers unwilling to drop $350 for a used copy are out of luck. That scarcity is surely a sign of the hold 'El Eternauta' can exert on eager imaginations. Written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López, the comic takes place in a Buenos Aires hit by a sudden, mysterious snowfall that kills people on contact, dropping them where they stand. Some friends gathered for a card game survive, holed up in their host's house, and gradually devise ways to go out into the snow to obtain supplies and increasingly alarming information. Oesterheld's ingenuity and Solano López's deceptively simple, darkly expressive drawing and shading produce a science-fiction horror tale of rare distinctiveness. As the survivors venture out and scramble back, the images oscillate between nervous claustrophobia and eerie, wide-open desolation; between the overly familiar and the radically strange. In the underwater breathing gear the heroes adapt into survival suits, they look like divers slowly navigating a dry, deadly sea. 'El Eternauta' became a classic of Argentine pop culture, helped by the transformation of Oesterheld, a committed leftist whose work grew more openly political over time, into a secular saint. Having joined a guerrilla group opposed to one of the country's succession of military dictatorships, he was kidnapped in 1977 and never found, joining his four daughters among the desaparecidos. Over the years, high-profile Argentine and Spanish directors like Adolfo Aristarain and Álex de la Iglesia have talked about adapting 'El Eternauta'; the two-time Palme d'Or nominee Lucrecia Martel spent more than a year working on a script. Oesterheld himself was involved with an animated television series that didn't pan out. The winner, finally, was Bruno Stagnaro, whose six-episode series for Netflix (it premiered Wednesday) met the Oesterheld family requirements of being Spanish-language and Buenos Aires-set. 'The Eternaut' (in Spanish, with subtitles, or dubbed) has been updated to the cellphone age, and the core cast of characters has been expanded, but it follows the rough outlines of Oesterheld's story. Toxic snow falls, though now with the aural accompaniment of constant wind, a different kind of ghostliness than the silence of reading. Keeping every inch of the body covered, in coats or ponchos or plastic sheets, is crucial. Giant bugs make an appearance. This fidelity is easier to maintain than it would be if the season were longer; the six episodes end at about the point where the book turns a corner into full-fledged, eyebrow-raising pulp with a particular flavor of anti-Cold War, a-pox-on-both-your-houses idealism. A second season of the series might have to work a little harder to keep contemporary viewers from tuning out. Stagnaro, who created and directed the series and was one of five writers, has done a very creditable job. He and his director of photography, Gastón Girod, give the snowy cityscapes full of dead bodies and dead vehicles a hushed beauty. The action is legible, though the face and body coverings can sometimes cause momentary confusion. (Sometimes that's a dramatic device.) Stagnaro has made one major concession to contemporary preferences, and while you can't blame him — he's just doing what every streaming adaptation does — it's a choice that makes the series more ordinary than it needs to be. He has taken a story about a small band of people with a few simple personality quirks each and added layer upon layer of melodramatic detail and mystery — 'humanizing' the characters, which means turning a slightly kitschy action-horror story with philosophical underpinnings into something that's at least 50 percent tasteful soap opera. Less 'War of the Worlds,' more 'The Last of Us.' This is the predominant strategy of television drama today, and it's harder to do well than people want to admit, which is a big reason that so many drama series feel the same. I have not said much about the concrete details of the plot of 'The Eternaut,' largely in deference to Netflix, which provided a do-not-spoil list of such sweeping comprehensiveness that it sapped my spirit. (You didn't hear anything about bugs from me.) It was suggested that only one actor should be identified with a character, the Argentine star Ricardo Darín, who plays Juan Salvo, a leader of the survivors. So there he is. He's good. The first question you might have about the show is one that I'm definitely not allowed to answer: What, or who, is an eternaut? The book, with its semi-Victorian structure, gives you the answer right away. (I wasn't supposed to tell you that, either.) The series doesn't, so you'll just have to wait. Or spend the $350.
Time Magazine
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Breaking Down the Ending of Netflix's Eerie Sci-fi Series
W arning: This post contains spoilers for The Eternaut On a summer night in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a mysterious snowfall kills everything it touches instantly. Thousands of people become trapped in their homes, buildings, and businesses, further isolated by the lack of communication. The first question to arise: Is this a nuclear war or something even more unknowable? To survive outside, one must wear layers of waterproof clothing and use a gas mask. Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darín) and his friends embark on a desperate struggle for survival—and to find Clara, Juan's daughter—but everything changes when they discover that the toxic storm is just the first attack by a foreign army invading Earth. This is the premise of Netflix's new sci-fi series The Eternaut. The production is based on the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Eternaut (El Eternauta), written by Héctor G. Oesterheld and illustrated by Francisco Solano López. The comics were published in installments from 1957 to 1959, then published as one volume in 2015. According to director Bruno Stagnaro, who first read the work at age 10, the adaptation was a long and challenging process. 'Narratively speaking, The Eternaut brings together very different elements that coexist,' he tells TIME. 'It was also difficult because it's a work with a huge legacy, a heavy weight, and high expectations, especially here in our country. I tried to protect myself from that by grounding myself in my experience as a reader of the work, from when I was really young, and then through the successive readings I did as I grew older. It's a work that was hugely influential in my own development and a major influence on my career.' More than a science fiction story about survival, The Eternaut became a landmark in Latin American culture—in part due to its plot, and in part due to its creator's life story. Oesterheld was kidnapped during the Argentine military dictatorship in 1977 and presumed dead, which turned the graphic novel into a symbol of resistance. 'That created a feedback loop between the story and the author's life, where each one fueled the other. Today, it's a cultural symbol loaded with meaning—some of it tied to the work itself, some to the author's biography, and some that's been layered on later, often for political reasons, both from those who revere him and those who oppose what he represents,' says Bruno. Let's break down the major plot points of the The Eternaut. The first alien encounter Right after the snowfall begins, red lights fall from the sky like meteors. But viewers, like the protagonists, only get a clear look at the aliens starting in Episode 4. Juan Salvo and his friend Alfredo Favalli are driving to the capital in search of Juan's daughter, Clara, who was with friends when it all began. On the way, they encounter a blockade of cars. Soldiers appear and warn them: 'The capital is a restricted area until further notice.' Despite promises that help is on the way, Juan distrusts the military and decides to follow the soldiers. They go through a tunnel and see the soldiers stopped ahead. As they approach, Alfredo says he'll explain that they're entering the capital to search for Juan's daughter—but the plan changes when the army opens fire. They reverse the car, but a car falls from a bridge above, blocking their escape. That's when it becomes clear the soldiers aren't shooting at them—they're shooting at aliens on the bridge. Alfredo speeds forward, but the car is hit and flips over. We then see insect-like aliens attacking the soldiers. One opens its mouth, and tentacles emerge, grabbing a soldier and wrapping him in spiderweb-like thread. Juan and Alfredo's car crashes into a tire repair shop. They hide near tires as the alien insects enter the building. After a while, silence falls and the aliens seem to retreat. They head back to the road and spot one of the creatures carrying a human wrapped in webs toward a lair. The two keep walking, but one bumps into a car, making noise that attracts the aliens. They shoot at the creatures and follow a figure waving at them. They try to enter a church, but it's locked. Someone throws fire at the creatures from a second-floor window, and another person opens a side entrance. Once inside, they're safe—but shaken by the encounter, still wondering what those giant insects are and what else is coming. Clara's mysterious return Clara, Juan's teenage daughter with his ex-wife Elena, disappears early in the series. She had been on a boat with friends Loli and Tati when a blackout hit the city. They decide to leave, and Clara heads below deck to check the GPS. She hears a noise and sees Loli lying dead outside the window. The door slams shut, trapping her, and Tati doesn't respond to her calls—likely also dead. Clara finally reappears in Episode 5, when Juan and Alfredo return to Alfredo's home—the same place they were when it all started—after escaping the church. Clara is lying on her mother's lap, and they all embrace. Juan asks Elena where she found their daughter, but the answer is surprising: Clara found them. They don't know how she got there—even though she knew they played cards at Alfredo's on that night. According to Elena, she arrived freezing and could only say 'Mommy, mommy, mommy.' They don't question it further until later, when they're in a trailer headed to another house Alfredo owns on an island. Inside the trailer, Alfredo sees a mask and some bags and asks where they came from. Elena says Clara had them when she arrived. Alfredo claims they're his and were on his boat—but then he backtracks, saying it might be a coincidence. When Clara wakes up from a nap, she discovers that they are going to Alfredo's house on an island and asks about her friends, saying she promised to return for them, and her mother tries to calm her down by saying that they will be fine. Elena tells her daughter that she and her father looked for her all over the city and, in the end, she was on the boat. Clara's reaction is to ask "what boat?" and Alfredo says it was his boat, but the young woman says she went to her mother's house and before that, she was with Loli and Tati—not on Alfredo's boat. Things get stranger when Juan asks about the mask Clara was wearing. She replies, 'What mask?' and denies ever having brought it. Though they don't bring it up again, it's clear something isn't adding up with Clara's return. How did she leave the boat? How did she know to wear a mask? And why does she deny being there? The answer they ultimately come to learn: she's being controlled. What's happening to people? Clara's not the only one exhibiting odd behavior. On the road, Juan and his friends find a family killed by gunfire—not by aliens, but by other humans. Later, they reach a mall filled with survivors organizing the parking lot. Juan mentions the dead family and is told, 'It's not the first time we hear about something like that' and 'people are going crazy.' Elsewhere, their friend Lucas goes looking for beer. As he searches, a noise draws his attention. Meanwhile, the snowfall ends and everyone runs outside to celebrate. After realizing Lucas is missing, Juan and Alfredo look for him and find a broken bottle. Suddenly, three masked people arrive by car and open fire on the celebrating crowd. Juan and Alfredo team up with other armed survivors to shoot back. Two masked attackers die, while one escapes. Soon after, army vehicles arrive—with Lucas among them. He explains that soldiers found him on the road and took him in. He says he drank too much and blacked out after finding beer in the mall, only to wake up surrounded by soldiers. Clara, Lucas, the attackers—all behave strangely, and Juan takes note. At the end of Episode 5, we see what happened to the third masked shooter: he walks into a sewer, encounters an alien insect that doesn't harm him, and continues. Other creatures step aside as he passes. He's clearly being controlled—and collaborating with the aliens. How The Eternaut ends Juan, Alfredo, Lucas, and some soldiers and volunteers go to an abandoned building in the city center to try to send a message to other survivors via radio. The mission is successful, and they spend the night in the building. Juan and his friends are drinking and playing cards in one of the apartments when, at some point, Lucas has a breakdown and says he won't play anymore. Omar tries to calm him down, but Lucas grabs a sharp object and stabs Omar in the stomach before running off. Omar, just like Lucas and Juan, was at Alfredo's house when it all started. Despite his questionable character at first, the character evolves throughout the episodes into the kind of you'd want to have on your side during an alien invasion. Juan goes after Lucas and finds him standing on the edge of the building's rooftop. He tries to talk to him, but Lucas starts rambling, saying things like 'be careful what you say,' claiming the phones are tapped, and that someone wants to harm 'the foundation.' A light coming from a nearby stadium catches their attention, and Lucas smiles, says there's lightning, and throws himself off the rooftop. Juan and Alfredo—who arrives just afterward—don't have time to mourn their friend's death and hurry to leave after seeing people with flashlights heading toward the building. They regroup with Omar and another volunteer and leave. They call out to another volunteer when they spot him in the building's courtyard, but the man alerts the others to their location. The group manages to reach the locomotive that brought them to the city center and tell the train operator what happened, stressing that they need to go to Campo de Mayo and warn the army and others about the events. But Juan insists on investigating the light coming from the stadium. Juan and the train operator decide to investigate, while Alfredo—who will operate the locomotive—Omar, and the other volunteer head to the army base. On the way, Juan and the operator hear gunfire and find a street filled with people and creatures walking around normally. They enter a building to get a better view of what's happening. The people under mental control are forming lines, like an army. A light begins to shine from a bandstand nearby, and both the people and the giant bugs stop to look. The silhouette of an alien appears—one with many fingers—and Juan is convinced this being is the one controlling everyone. He looks at a young girl in the line, and then the scene cuts away. Clara, Juan's daughter, is at Campo de Mayo learning to shoot, a serious expression on her face. At that moment, Juan closes his eyes, understanding why his daughter had been acting so strangely. Now, he knows the real problems are only just beginning. Will The Eternaut have a second season? The series adapted only the first part of Juan Salvo's journey in his fight against the aliens, so there are still other comics left to be adapted. Although Netflix has yet to announce new episodes, lead actor Ricardo Darín has already hinted in an interview that the second season is on its way. 'We still have the second part of The Eternaut ahead of us,' says Darín. 'I believe we're going to aim higher!' he tells Forbes.
