After Black Widow, Marvel came to reveal a unique “out of the odds” superhero group and family in phase four of the franchise. As a Marvel fan myself, I was determined not to be biased with the movie. I wanted answers to my questions: what’s the hype aside from the ensemble cast? How will the Eternals affect Marvel and its franchise in the future? Additionally, I wanted to complete my Marvel watchlist. Why? Because seeing how each movie interconnects in the Marvel universe is a thrilling yet curious cycle, and the post-credit scenes add more to the curiosity.
The plot of Eternals follows up on the events of Endgame, such as Ironman’s death and Captain America/Steve Rogers’ departure and passing his shield onto another Avenger, Sam Wilson/Falcon. While listening to a podcast discussing the Avengers during the promotion of Eternals, I wondered if the Eternals had the kind of potential to be the leaders of the Avengers. While they’re powerful physically, what would these superheroes be able to withstand emotionally?
Anyways, I watched Eternals with a friend of mine. After buying our snacks, walking through the theater doors, and getting comfortable in the red leather reclining seats. I knew I would finally get some answers. The only thought in my head was, “Let’s see what kind of spectacular things Marvel has done this time.” When I saw the opening theme of the movie, I thought my head was gonna explode from the excitement. Five minutes in, however, my feeling of pleasure started to be overturned.
Many twists and turns
Unfortunately, my friend and I didn’t like Eternals very much. Chloé Zhao is a good director, in my opinion, as proven by her becoming the first woman of color to win an Academy Award. I think that was an excellent win, and I’m glad that we had a person of color behind the camera for a Marvel movie. I am also most proud of the representation included in Eternals, such as a queer interracial relationship that broke the Black-white archetype, Marvel’s first deaf superhero, and a cast of all different backgrounds. Marvel is breaking barriers down!
However, as much as I adored the representation and the visuals of the film, I still felt as though there were some plot holes and disappointing character development throughout the story. Watching the movie left me with more unanswered questions. I felt as though the film didn’t address many important issues, such as: why didn’t the Eternals defeat Thanos? And why didn’t they help civilization as much as they could have? In my opinion, relying on the excuse “humans have to develop on their own” was not an adequate or convincing justification for letting humans destroy each other.
What’s next?
So what’s next for the Eternals? Where does it stand within Marvel and its franchise? I think the comparison to Captain America: Civil War is fair, but I disagree with those who say it’s worse than Thor: The Dark World? Even with the lack of character development and the way the film left fans with more questions than answers, due to the significance of the diversity and representation it provided, I see Eternals as the start of something groundbreaking.
