The movie and the source material differ widely on the Deviants.
Source Material
In the source material, Celestials select the dominant race of a given planet and alter their genetic structure for reasons that have not yet been revealed. The Celestials use their advanced technology to alter the race into three distinct races:
a) The mainline race that shows normal attributes until evolution and an outside catalyst creates mutation, granting individuals of the mainline race a wide array of varying abilities.
b) A superior race dubbed Eternals who are typically empowered with cosmic energy, and
c) a genetically unstable race dubbed Deviants. The Celestials have practiced these tests on various races such as Humans, Kree and Skrulls.
When the First Host got to the planet Earth, the Celestial Gammenon the Gatherer collected a few specimens, which <PERSON> the Tester mutated to create one hundred grotesque Deviants (Homo descendus). After <PERSON> was done with its brood, <PERSON> performed his own tests and created 100 superior Eternals (Homo immortalis). Finally, <PERSON> created a latent gene for the expansion of human potential.
After these creations were released back on Earth, the Eternals secluded themselves, while the Deviants established an empire on the continent of Lemuria. The Deviants multiplied quickly, while the Eternals mostly hid for a while, tried to fight the Deviants and eventually called the Celestials for help.
MCU
In the MCU, The Deviants were a race of genetically engineered organic beings, created by the Celestial <PERSON> the Judge in order to assist in the process of Celestial seeding. <PERSON> created the Deviant race with an intended role; to wipe out the apex predators of seeded worlds and thus allow sentient life to evolve. 837
For a time, the Deviants succeeded in this role, killing of the predators of many worlds. The problem was, the Deviants eventually became the apex predators and began killing all the humans, and as a result the Celestial wasn't getting fed. It is never specified where they were created, or how they arrived at their destination worlds. It is known, however, that they arrived sometime before the Eternals and the Celestials had realized they were killing the native Human population at an accelerated rate.
In 5000 BC, ten superpowered Eternals—Ajak, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, <PERSON>, and Thena—are sent by the Celestial Arishem to Earth on their starship, the Domo, to exterminate the invasive Deviants. In 1521, the last of the Deviants on Earth were hunted down and killed by the Eternals. However, in Alaska, a group of them that included the leader, <PERSON>, had become frozen in ice, and remained so for centuries.
In 2023, due to the Blip, the ice defrosted, and <PERSON> and his pack were set free. The Eternals learned that they were never supposed to kill off the Deviants, but rather prepare Earth for the emergence of a Celestial.
As you can see, the movie and the source comics are pretty far apart on what The Eternals were even supposed to be doing on Earth. They also differ widely in that in the source material, the Deviants were created on Earth by <PERSON>, whereas the movie never specifies where the Deviants were created, just that they were created by <PERSON> and later sent to Earth. 837