We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
For more than a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was as bulletproof as it gets in Hollywood. Even “Thor: The Dark World” became a box office hit while also setting a low bar for the MCU from a critical perspective. But things changed in the 2020s, and that truly became evident five years ago when Marvel Studios released one of the most divisive superhero movies in recent memory, if not ever.
Directed by Chloé Zhao, who was hot off of the Best Picture-winning “Nomadland,” “Eternals” was supposed to be the start of something new within the MCU. Not unlike how “Guardians of the Galaxy” opened up the cosmic side of the universe, these characters were meant to be a major part of the Multiverse Saga. Instead, it was a one-and-done experiment that, five years removed, continues to divide fans.
The early buzz for “Eternals” called it a sprawling superhero movie unlike any other or a complicated mess, depending on who you asked. Not much has changed. Some people have come around to it, others still strongly dislike it. What remains true is that the divisive nature of this sweeping superhero epic proved that the bulletproof nature of the MCU had its limits, and clearly changed plans that Marvel Studios had in place.
The movie focuses on a team of ancient aliens that’s been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. An unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows and they are forced to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants. It boasts a stellar cast led by Gemma Chan (Sersi), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Angelina Jolie (Thena), Salma Hayek (Ajak), and Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo).
Eternals was a big swing for the MCU at the wrong time
Kumail Nanjiani, in particular, went through an impressive physical transformation for the role. Naniani has conflicted feelings about changing his body to play a superhero, but he clearly thought this was going to be a role he would revisit many times. That didn’t pan out.
“Eternals” was Marvel Studios’ first movie to get a “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that less than 60% of the approved critics who reviewed it gave it a positive review. As of this writing, it holds a 48% approval rating on the site. That mixed response led to the movie fighting an uphill battle at the box office at a time when theaters were still trying to get back on their feet during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time in a long time, word of mouth wasn’t on Marvel’s side.
The movie made just $402 million at the global box office, which would be solid for many blockbusters but is a sad sum by MCU standards, especially on a reported $200 million budget. By contrast, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” made $432 million, but that was on a smaller $150 million budget and against solid reviews. All the same, “Shang-Chi 2” still hasn’t happened.
Marvel’s plans to further explore the Eternals on screen were scrapped in light of the film’s reception. Plot threads that were introduced never paid off, such as seeing Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman become the Black Knight or teasing the arrival of Mahershala Ali’s Blade, which will now never happen. (Marvel also seemingly forgot about that large Celestial that was emerging from the ocean, which was completely ignored until last year’s “Captain America: Brave New World.”)
The “Eternals” credits scenes also meant big things for the future of the MCU, including introducing Harry Styles as Starfox. Five years later, it’s almost like that never happened.
Eternals has found a lot of love in the years since its release
What the heck went wrong? Going back to /Film’s original review, it dubbed “Eternals” as a wildly ambitious but tonally uneven epic. This movie tried to introduce nearly a dozen major characters and a history that spans centuries, while also including a major love story, gigantic god-like beings in space, and deliver villains that felt worthy of all this chaos. There were a lot of plates to spin, and it’s easy to imagine Chloé Zhao’s vision clashing with Marvel Studios’ desires.
This is right up there with legendarily divisive superhero movies from the past. That includes Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which I hated at the time but feel conflicted about now. Snyder is probably the king of divisive comic book cinema, but for a long time, Marvel was seen as the king of the hill that could do no wrong. This was the first instance of the MCU doing something that was viewed by many as “wrong.”
I personally count “Eternals” as one of my favorite superhero movies of the 2020s, and I’m not alone. “Finally got around to ‘Eternals’ on my watch through of everything, it was really good?? I’m so annoyed they scrapped the sequel,” Threads user curtain_callme said in September of this year. “Unpopular opinion but I actually really enjoyed The Eternals,” said Brittany Kerperian on Threads in October.
It seems for every hater this movie has, there’s someone who loves it. That’s the very definition of divisive. It’s not something the MCU had been accustomed to being in 2021, but it’s certainly a reputation the film still has to reckon with.
Leave a Reply