Throughout its first three phases, the MCU established a certain rhythm and tone. For fans, this created a sense of continuity and connection that made even the most disparate characters and worlds feel like they co-existed in the same space. But critics of the MCU felt the franchise became overly reliant on a very specific formula and character archetypes, often limiting the creative voice of the craftspeople and storytellers involved.
But as the Infinity Saga drew to a close with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far from Home, it seemed like the MCU could do no wrong. After all, the franchise had made unlikely movie stars out of characters like Ant-Man, Thor, and — most remarkably — the Guardians of the Galaxy. So if an anthropomorphic tree could move audiences to tears, then perhaps Marvel could continue pushing boundaries as it leaned into its ambitious Multiverse Saga era. However, early on in Phase 4, the MCU seemingly hit a roadblock that signaled just how far they could push the franchise before fans would begin to resist.
Only the third film in the Multiverse Saga, Eternals challenged a number of MCU conventions. Rather than centering on a specific hero, it instead introduced a team of 10 primary characters. And rather than trying to ground itself, the story went full cosmic from the start, with a sprawling, decades-spanning narrative involving multiple races of cosmic beings. As it turns out, fans weren’t so keen on its more serious tone, slow-burn pacing, and lack of a compelling central villain.
Despite guidance from Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, Eternals became the first MCU film to be deemed Rotten on Rotten Tomatoes (though Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World have since followed suit). Looking back, it’s easy to see why the film failed: the MCU backed itself into a corner. The franchise had done such a strong job setting fans’ expectations for what a Marvel movie was that, when it tried to step outside those lines, fans rejected it.
If anything, Eternals feels like Marvel stepping into the territory of its competitors over at DC. In Zhao’s film, the heroes aren’t everyday people put into extraordinary circumstances. They are immortal, godlike cosmic beings who stand apart from humanity, and their instructions not to interfere with human conflicts or historical events put their morality into question.
Combine those plot details with a darker aesthetic and edgier storytelling (including the MCU’s first love scene), and it’s easy to see why fans expecting something more in line with Thor: Ragnarok felt let down. While Eternals’ failure did ding the MCU at the time, it has only sharpened Marvel’s self-awareness, yielding a more consistent — if less risk-taking — way forward.
One of the most fun aspects of a shared universe like the MCU is that everything matters. It’s all connected, after all. But in this case, that’s also the challenge: everything matters. So when something like Eternals doesn’t click, what is the MCU to do? The film ends on a definitive cliffhanger, with some of the heroes taken off by the Celestial Arishem. Doubling down on the inevitable return of these story threads, the mid-credits scenes see other Eternals meeting Thanos’ brother Eros (Harry Styles) and Pip the Troll (voiced by Patton Oswalt). Then the post-credits stinger teases the evolution of Kit Harington’s character into Black Knight and the arrival of Mahershala Ali. The chances of all of that playing out at this point look slimmer than ever, particularly given the dissolution of the Ali-starring Blade film.
Nevertheless, the Eternals could still have a role to play in the MCU going forward. Thus far, the only real follow-up on these characters has been an episode of What If…? in Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo crosses paths with Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness. But with the universe-spanning events of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars just around the corner, there’s certainly a way in which those movies can at least acknowledge the existence of the Eternals and keep them around for the next phase or two of the MCU.
Until then, consider Eternals the new The Incredible Hulk, in that it likely sits at the bottom of the MCU priority list for upcoming projects. With any luck, it won’t take Marvel more than a decade and a half to follow up on Eternals. But with the X-Men taking the forefront, fans shouldn’t expect much movement just yet on the Eternals.
Eternals is now streaming on Disney+.
