‘Eternals’ is the newest thrilling installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The ‘Eternals’ made their first appearance in the Marvel Comics in 1976 and were brought to life on the big screen this November 2. The legendary heroes are portrayed by many famous actors such as Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kumail Nanjiani. Despite the low ratings, the ‘Eternals’ characters and plot are entertaining to watch and the movie is said to have a great impact on the future of the MCU. Minor spoilers ahead!

The movie introduces viewers to a new team of immortal superheroes, created by the Celestials and put on Earth with a mission. The Eternals were made to protect humans from the Deviants, but not to interfere in any other affairs in order to let humans develop and evolve on their own. The leader of the Eternals is Ajak (Salma Hayek), a healer and the only one able to communicate with the Celestials. The other main characters include Marvel’s very own Superman-like hero, Ikrais (Richard Madden), who is able to fly and shoot lasers out of his eyes, and Sersi (Gemma Chan), who can change matter into different forms. Intimidating Thena (Angelina Jolie), Goddess of War, and the hilarious Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), who wields cosmic energy, brought excitement to the film. Druig (Barry Keoghan), a mind controller, and Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), her power being super speed, are a couple who successfully stole the show. Sprite (Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), and Phastos (Brian Tryee Henry) are the rest of the Eternals. All these characters are rooted in mythology. They bring together an intricate story of peril, love, betrayal, and family reunion. 

Unfortunately, ‘Eternals’ has not been extremely successful in terms of ratings and box office revenue. ‘Eternals’ is projected to only make a domestic total of $161 million, which is very low for an MCU movie. In comparison, Marvel’s other most recent superhero movie, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’, made a $430.5 million domestic total. ‘Eternals’ could be Marvel’s biggest flop since ‘The Incredible Hulk’. ‘Eternals’ has also received the lowest rating of an MCU movie ever, 47%, on popular movie reviewing site, Rotten Tomatoes. These shortcomings are most likely due to how packed the movie is. ‘Eternals’ introduced 10 unfamiliar heroes, a new complicated storyline, and still had to provide action and comedy. The movie is 2 hours and 37 minutes long, making it the second longest MCU movie, and it moves at a very slow pace. Flashbacks and explanations kill the momentum of the movie. With not much time being left for side characters, most of the Eternals are left being two-dimensional. This is disappointing because it is easy to see the great potential for personality and development from many of them. In the future, fans hope to see more from characters like Druig and Phastos, who were given traits of humor, relatability, and mischievousness. 

Although the movie had its faults, it also had many positive factors. The movie contained incredible cinematography, exciting action sequences, and continued on with Marvel’s well known moments of comedic relief. ‘Eternals’ also brought to life five incredible female heroes and six powerful superheroes of color. Marvel’s first homosexual couple and family appeared in this film. Makkari also became the first deaf MCU hero, Lauren Ridloff herself has been deaf since birth. Ridloff’s performance caused a massive spike, a 250% increase, in sign language interest. The representation in ‘Eternals’ was phenomenal and caused a great impact.

The ‘Eternals’ storyline is said to have a big change in the entire future of the MCU. Producer, Kevin Feige, said the events of the film “will have major ripple effects on future stories.” For those wanting to see more of their new favorite characters, Marvel has not yet confirmed a sequel but one will most likely come out at the end of Phase 4 or the beginning of Phase 5. There are also possibilities for solo films or for some characters to appear in others’ MCU movies. There is much anticipation surrounding the ‘Eternals’ return, but for right now fans are content with the ‘Hawkeye’ Disney+ series coming out in just a few days and ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ coming to theatres next month!