Eternals (2021) Film Review

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Starring Gemma Chan (Sersi), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo), Leah McHugh (Sprite), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), Barry Keoghan (Druig), Don Lee (Gilgamesh), Harish Patel (Karun), Kit Harrington (Dane Whitman), Salma Hayek (Ajak), and Angelina Jolie (Thena), with Bill Skarsgard as the voice of Kro, and David Kaye as the voice of Arishem, a mid-credits scene featuring Harry Styles as Eros and Patton Oswalt as the voice of Pip the Troll, and a post-credits scene featuring Mahershala Ali as the voice of Blade

ETERNALS

Directed by Chloe Zhao

Produced by Kevin Feige with Nate Moore

Written by Ryan Firpo and Kaz Firpo

Music by Ramin Djawadi

Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures

Run Time: 2 hours and 37 minutes

World Premier: October 18, 2021, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California

Opening Weekend Box Office: $71 million (North America)

Worldwide Box Office: $401 million

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48%

The Eternals First Comic Book Appearance: The Eternals # 1 (July-1976)

The Eternals Created by Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby

Fun Eternals Facts

In 1970, artist Jack Kirby (co-creator of The Avengers, Captain America, The Black Panther, Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter, Doctor Doom, The Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, Galactus, Groot, Agatha Harkness, Heimdall, Hela, Iron Man, Kang the Conqueror, The Hulk, The Red Skull, The Silver Surfer, Thor, The X-Men, and many, many more) left Marvel Comics to go to work for DC Comics. There, Kirby created The New Gods for DC, weaving an epic story that combined mythological legends with science-fiction concepts. Kirby had meticulously planned out this tale, but DC abruptly canceled the series before it had a chance to conclude. From there, Kirby returned to Marvel where he continued exploring the premise of high-concept science fiction through The Eternals.

The Eternals was written and illustrated by Jack Kirby, who looking back, was, with his creations of The Celestials, The Eternals, and The Deviants, a sort of architect of Marvel’s Cosmic Universe, which flourishes today with a huge fan following and that has thrived within the MCU through the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy films. Perhaps Kirby was ahead of his time though, as The Eternals, like The New Gods before it was abruptly canceled by Marvel before its conclusion.

The lore of The Eternals would live on within Marvel even after Jack Kirby’s death in 1994. Neil Gaiman penned an acclaimed run in 2006, and Jason Aaron did some interesting things with the characters during his Avengers run.

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In August-2017, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige organized his latest Marvel Studios Creative Retreat in an effort to begin developing plans for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The goal was to develop a blueprint for the next five-years of Marvel Studios projects post-The Infinity Saga. No public announcements were made, but Feige and his team first discussed their visions for future Marvel Studios projects such as Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Black Widow.

On September 21, 2018: Marvel Studios hired Chloe Zhao to direct the upcoming Eternals film. Zhao was just the second woman to direct an MCU film produced by Marvel Studios in a solo role following Cate Shortland (Black Widow), and she was the first Chinese woman to do so.

On July 20, 2019, at San Diego Comic Con, the cast for Eternals were welcomed on stage by Kevin Feige with Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Don Lee, Lauren Ridloff, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, and Brian Tyree Henry appearing. Eternals was confirmed for a November 6, 2020, release date. Eternals commenced filming mere days after San Diego Comic Con 2019. The father of actress Lauren Ridloff (Makarri) gave the main cast lessons in American Sign language for use in the film to ensure that their communications with Makarri were natural. Lauren Ridloff is deaf in real life, and she was the MCU’s first deaf superhero. Also deaf in real life, Alaqua Cox would debut within the MCU as the deaf superhero Echo (Maya Lopez) a few weeks after the release of Eternals in the Disney+ series Hawkeye.

On August 24, 2019, at the D23 Expo, the cast of Eternals joined Kevin Feige on stage once again, with Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, and Don Lee appearing. Feige went on to share concept art from the film and announced that Gemma Chan, Barry Keoghan, and Kit Harington had officially joined the cast. Gemma Chan (Sersi) previously portrayed Minn-Erva within the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2019’s Captain Marvel.

On November 30, 2019, Kevin Feige presented a Marvel Studios panel at the CCXP convention in Brazil where CCXP attendees were shown the first public footage from Marvel Studios’ Eternals. Feige announced that Eternals would take viewers through 7,000 years of Marvel Cinematic Universe history and that the Deviants would be featured in the story.

On February 4, 2020, Eternals wrapped filming.

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The Celestials were first introduced into MCU lore in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy where a Celestial can be scene destructively wielding the Power Stone during the scene in which Benicio del Toro is explaining the Infinity Stones to members of The Guardians. Furthermore, the mining colony known as Knowhere is located within the remains of the severed head of a Celestial.

In Eternals, Marvel Studios made a decision to gender swap three different characters: Ajak, Makkari, and Sprite. Actress Salma Hayek was cast to portray Ajak. The character was given a huge upgrade in terms of power and status in the film, as not only the leader of The Eternals’ faction on Earth, but the emissary between The Eternals and Arishem. Makkari is a speedster in the comics, and this character trait was retained for the film, but in Eternals, the character portrayed by Lauren Ridloff is not just fast, but deaf. Sprite is a trickster and a prankster in the comics, and the character’s unageing childlike appearance was adapted to the Eternals film. Sprite was first introduced as a male in the comics but has also appeared as a female in the medium.

In Eternals, characters from rival comic book company DC Comics are audibly mentioned by MCU characters. Gilgamesh name-drops Batman’s butler Alfred and the son of Phastos name-drops Superman. Some have theorized that DC characters may exist within the MCU as comic book superheroes, though this has never been confirmed by Marvel Studios. 

A credits scene in Eternals features the MCU debut of actor Mahershala Ali as the day-walking, human-vampire hybrid Blade. Ali’s casting was announced at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con. Ali appears here in only a voice cameo. He is expected to reprise his role in a feature film sometime in the near future.

On March 22, 2020, Marvel Studios completely shut down due to concerns pertaining to the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

On April 3, 2020, Marvel Studios announced that it was revising its upcoming film slate due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. As part of the changes, Eternals was moved to February 12, 2021.

On September 23, 2020, Marvel Studios pushed its upcoming film slate back yet again due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. Eternals was moved to November 5, 2021, a full year from its original intended release date.

On May 3, 2021, Marvel Studios dropped a Phase Four Preview Trailer that served as an emotional tribute to movie-going, complete with a voice over from the late Stan Lee. The trailer featured premier footage from Eternals.

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Also in May of 2021, a Chinese State Media Report excluded Eternals from its list of upcoming releases, adding to speculation that China would decide against airing the film. Reports emerged that director Chloe Zhao (a Chinese woman) had been blacklisted in China due to remarks she made in a 2013 interview in which she described China as “a place where there are lies everywhere.” Eternals would ultimately not receive a release in China as speculated, which was detrimental to the film’s worldwide box office tally.

On May 24, 2021, Marvel Studios dropped the first trailer for Eternals.

On August 19, 2021: Marvel Studios released the final trailer for Eternals, giving fans their first look at the Deviants and a glimpse of the Celestials.

On September 10, 2021, The Walt Disney Company announced that Marvel Studios’ upcoming Eternals film would be released exclusively in theaters on November 5, 2021, foregoing a simultaneous release on Disney+ via the Premium Access system, which had been utilized with the release of Black Widow a couple of months earlier.

On October 29, 2021, one week from its theatrical release and with critic reviews pouring in, Eternals became the first MCU film produced by Marvel Studios to ever drop to “Rotten” status on Rotten Tomatoes.com, boasting a mere 59% Approval Rating on the site at that time. Some blamed the score on the diversity of the cast, as well as the fact that Eternals is Marvel Studios’ first theatrical release to boast an openly gay superhero character.

Along with China, Marvel Studios’ Eternals did not receive a release in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, or Oman due to its depiction of an openly gay couple. Eternals star Angelina Jolie lashed out at the censorship publicly stating “I’m sad for [those audiences]. And I’m proud of Marvel [Studios] for refusing to cut those scenes out. I still don’t understand how we live in a world today where there’s still [people who] would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love. How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn’t approve [of it] or appreciate it is ignorant.”

Eternals finished 2021 as the tenth highest grossing film of the year, and one of four MCU movies to rank within the Top-10 along with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (#9), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (#7), and the # 1 film of the year: Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline revealed that Eternals’ modern scenes take place in the Fall of 2024 upon the MCU (Sacred) Timeline. When we catch up with Sersi in modern-day London, Wanda Maximoff has already become The Scarlet Witch (as seen in WandaVision), Shang-Chi has become a superhero (as seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Sam Wilson has taken up the mantle of Captain America (as seen in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier), King T’Challa has died (as seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Peter Parker has been outed as Spider-Man (as seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home), and Jennifer Walters has become She-Hulk (as seen in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law). A chronological viewing of the MCU would therefore place Eternals between 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the errant spell cast by Doctor Strange for Peter Parker happening right after Dane Whitman is advised by Blade to not pick up his sword.

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My Eternals Review

I did not venture out to theaters to see Eternals due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. It wasn’t until the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home that I felt comfortable with getting out to the movies with my family again, and that trip happened right before the Omicron Variant breakout, which hit our family hard during the holidays at the end of the year. With the release of Eternals on Disney+ on January 12, 2022, I was finally able to watch this movie though, having heard a lot of negative things about the film, but for the most part, managing to successfully avoid spoilers. Eternals will long live in infamy for its Rotten Approval Rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It stands at a mere 48% at the time that I am writing this, and that was an all-time low for a feature-length MCU film from Marvel Studios, ending a 25-film streak of Certified Fresh films.

I have heard Eternals labeled as everything from “boring”, to “too dense”, and despite being the Marvel fan that I am, I can actually understand that assessment, because Eternals is unlike anything that Kevin Feige and his Marvel Studios team have ever produced. Saying it’s “different” is a gross understatement, but to be fair, saying it’s “different” does not excuse the film from the criticisms that have befallen it. Everyone that views any movie is entitled to his or her opinion, which does not necessarily make them right or wrong, but I think any fair assessment of this film has to acknowledge the poor overall reception to it, which will hinder its legacy and potentially affect where these characters go in the future in terms of sequels, appearances in other projects, etc.

Marvel Studios President and CCO Kevin Feige had huge hopes for Eternals. During the months leading up to the release of Eternals, Feige not only labeled the movie as Marvel Studios “most ambitious” film yet, but he also spoke of it with a sort of reverence, confidently alluding to the potential for this epic motion picture to win critics over in a monumental way which he hoped would lead to the film making big waves during awards season. Director Chloe Zhao won the Oscar for Best Director at the beginning of 2021, and she made headlines as the first Chinese woman to direct a Marvel Studios film when she was hired for Eternals. Zhao was encouraged to bring her unique cinematic style and approach to Eternals, which made more headlines during its developmental process for its diverse cast and the fact that it would feature an openly gay hero; a Marvel Studios first for a feature length / theatrical production.

All of that being said, I loved Eternals.

I’ll just go ahead and get that out of the way. I loved its cinematography. I loved its characters. I loved its themes. I loved the complex philosophical questions it raised and addressed, and I loved its complex religious implications. Yes, Eternals was heavy. Yes, it was dramatic. Yes, it featured a very diverse cast. Yes, it took what many religious people would consider a controversial, if not outright blasphemous approach to gods, and angels, and miracles. And yes, a man kissed another man on-screen in a superhero movie, and all of these things are part of the reasons I enjoyed this movie as much as I did.

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In praising this film, let me start with the characters though, because that was for me, its greatest single strength. Introducing ten primary characters was always going to be not only a juggling act, but an undertaking! James Gunn handled a similar task brilliantly back in 2014, with Guardians of the Galaxy, but even that film had just five core members of the team at that time. Then, when it comes to the Avengers films, those movies mostly boast characters that have already been introduced in previous films. Eternals did not benefit from that at all. These were all-new characters, and on top of that, they weren’t characters that were very well-known, even within the comic book fandom. While there are devout and impassioned fans out there who would defend Jack Kirby’s work to their dying breath while insisting that Jack Kirby should be sanctified, the truth is, The Eternals are a small pocket fandom within the much larger Marvel fandom, and they have not traditionally gotten all that much attention within the Marvel Universe.

As a film, Eternals changed a lot of things about The Eternals and The Deviants, and The Celestials; some big, some small, but its main purpose thematically speaking was to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe a beginning, and to fill in some of the blanks pertaining to the past of the MCU and how this cinematic world came to be.

In fact, the very first thing we see in Eternals as the film starts are the words “In the beginning.”

In the beginning, there was Arishem. Let the controversy begin, for according to this mythology, Arishem is what people of faith would refer to as God the Creator. Arishem is the Prime Celestial, and it is Arishem that created the first Sun which brought light into the Virgin Universe. Arishem is millions of years old and Arishem predates the Infinity Stones themselves. It was Arishem who created stars, moons, and planets, and it was Arishem who set the laws of evolution into motion upon these worlds. It was also Arishem who created The Deviants and later, The Eternals. First and foremost, going into Eternals, you have to know that The Celestials are the most ancient and the most powerful beings in any Universe. They boast the potential for a limitless lifespan, and they wield the Power of Creation. They can manipulate matter and energy at will and physically speaking, they are ENORMOUS! In fact, from what I have been able to ascertain, Celestials can be up to 200 miles tall! Planet Earth can fit literally in the palm of the hand of a Celestial! Eternals is not our official introduction to Celestials within the MCU. In Guardians of the Galaxy, the mining colony Knowhere exists within the severed head of a Celestial. So yes, Celestials can die, and they can be killed. That first Guardians film also showed a Celestial on-screen. When The Collector is explaining the power of the Infinity Stones to Star-Lord and his new friends, we see a Celestial wielding the Power Stone to destroy a planet and all of its inhabitants. So yes, Celestials are, or at least can be malicious. In Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Two, Peter Quill’s biological father Ego claims to be a Celestial. Obviously, Ego does not appear to be the same kind of Celestial as the massive armor wearing Arishem though. Ego did wield the Power of Creation, but according to the story Ego tells, he was merely a floating brain that drifted through the Universe, unaware of where he came from, and existing in solitude for countless years. This leads me to believe (and I could totally be wrong here), that Ego was a Celestial offshoot, created by Arishem or some other Celestial as an experiment for lack of a better word; an Organic Celestial. I believe there is much, much more to the origins of Arishem and the (616) Universe itself than what Eternals told us, and I will speculate on some of that at the end of this review. For now, just know that The Celestials are the most powerful force in the Universe, and while it has not been revealed how a Celestial can be killed, Eternals does tell us how they are born, and that is through the planting of a Celestial seed within a planetary body that will serve as the womb for the future Celestial. While inside the womb, the Celestial seed will feed off the energy of the planet’s inhabitants until it has absorbed enough to be born. At that point, the newborn Celestial will burst out of the planet; a violent process that leads to the destruction of said planet and all of its inhabitants.

The Celestials created The Deviants. As life evolved upon the planetary bodies that were created by The Celestials, it could be narrowed down to two types of species: predators and prey. Arishem soon deduced that these predators, if left unchallenged, would establish planetary dominance and hinder the evolution of intelligent life. This was unacceptable, as intelligent life was needed for the Celestial seed to feed upon in order to reach its true potential. Arishem therefore created The Deviants: colorful, yet monstrous biological creatures that would keep the planetary populations in-check. In time however, The Deviants evolved themselves, becoming the very type of predator that Arishem wished to contain: Apex Predators. The Deviants became vicious and unruly, prompting Arishem to create The Eternals.

The purpose of The Eternals was to eradicate The Deviants and to assist primitive lifeforms along their respective evolutionary paths. The Eternals were given strict edicts from Arishem that prohibited them from interfering in the affairs of the planetary populace, unless it specifically involved The Deviants. Viewing Arishem as their god, The Eternals saw any rebellious actions that would defy Arishem’s authority as a sin that would result in them standing before the all-powerful Arishem for judgment. Obviously, this was not an appealing notion.

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The Eternals were created by Arishem to be incapable of evolution. Their sole purpose is to ensure that the seed that has been planted within a planetary body is born: a process labeled “the Emergence.” Eternals can die physically speaking, but they are, as their name suggests, Eternals; their deaths are not permanent. Eternals are more or less robots; like The VISION, but Eternals look and feel completely human, and unlike The VISION, they cannot change their physical appearance at will. The Eternals are created as fully evolved synthetic beings with specific gifts and a specific design. These gifts and these designs are decided upon by Arishem upon their creation at the World Forge, which serves as a station where Arishem not only does his creating but keeps the memories of his Eternals stored away. When a Celestial is born, the planet from which it emerges is destroyed along with all l life upon it … even The Eternals. Arishem ensures however that each Eternal is reborn, but their memories of the world they previously inhabited is erased for the sake of their own sanity. This means that most of The Eternals are not aware of their true purpose, nor of the fate that ultimately awaits the planetary bodies they visit.

7,000 years ago, Arishem sent nine of his Eternals with new minds and oblivious to their pasts to a floating / spinning blue orb located within the Milky Way galaxy known as Earth / Terra. There, The Eternals would follow the leadership of Ajak; Arishem’s chosen emissary, in teaching and assisting the primitive human species that existed there with the process of their evolution while defending them against the monstrous Deviants.

The nine Eternals are as follows, complete with their gifts:

Ikaris – An Eternal who can fly as well as shoot energy beams out of his eyes (think Superman). In the MCU, the Greek myths of the winged Icarus and his death via flying too close to the sun are based on Ikaris the Eternal.

Sersi – An empathetic Eternal who boasts a strong spiritual connection to Earth. She can manipulate and transform matter through physical contact. In the MCU, the sorceress Circe in Greek mythology was based on Sersi, as is the Legend of King Midas, who could turn things to gold with a touch.

Gilgamesh – Physically speaking, Gilgamesh is the strongest member of the Eternals that were sent to Earth. In the MCU, the famed poem The Epic of Gilgamesh that emerged in Mesopotamia and revolved around its protagonist Gilgamesh, is based on Gilgamesh the Eternal, and is widely cited as the first documented superhero story. The elaborate tale was actually first told audibly by Sprite.

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Thena – An elite Warrior Eternal that can form any weapon via her manipulation of Cosmic Energy. In the MCU, the Greek myths of “Athena” are based on Thena, who was worshiped both in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome as the Goddess of War.

Phastos – Mentally speaking, Phastos is the most intelligent and inventive Eternal that was sent to Earth. Phastos is a technological wizard and master weapons developer (think Tony Stark) who would use his creative instincts to nudge humanity in the right direction via his sharing of his gifts and ideas with them. In the MCU, the Greek myths of Hephaestus are based on Phastos the Eternal.

Druig – An Eternal who can manipulate the minds of others and make them do whatever he wishes.

Makkari – An Eternal that boasts the power of super-speed (think The Flash). She also happens to be deaf. In the MCU, the Roman myths of Mercury were influenced by the exploits of Makkari the Eternal.

Kingo – An Eternal who can project Cosmic energy from his hands. Kingo is the most flamboyant of the Eternals that were sent to Earth and the Greek myths of Dionysus, the God of Theater and Wine, were inspired by Kingo the Eternal.

Sprite – An Eternal who can project lifelike magical illusions from her hands. She was created in the image of a 12-year-old female. In the MCU, several myths throughout human history have featured Sprite-like characters, including the Indian god Shakuni and of course, the Norse deity Loki, with whom Sprite shares several characteristics.

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After arriving on Earth, the Eternals mingled with the primitive humans, wowing them with their gifts and powers and significantly speeding-up their evolutionary process and oftentimes being worshiped as gods and goddesses. Soon, Sersi and Ikaris were married, which spurned jealousy within Sprite, as she too loved Ikaris. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh and Thena formed a strong bond of friendship with each other while Druig and Makkari flirted with the idea of being together. The Eternals saw each other as family and relied upon each other’s gifts and wisdom to make for themselves good and happy lives amongst the humans of Earth. The Eternals had at least some part in various landmark periods of human history, influencing cultures in Australia, Japan, Ancient Egypt, North and Central America, Greece, and Southeast Asia.

In 1521 AD, life for The Eternals on Earth was forever changed in Tenochtitlan, the capitol of the Aztec Empire. Believing that the Deviant threat had been extinguished, The Eternals began to grow tired of the antics of humans, who repeatedly resorted to war and violence, despite the teachings of The Eternals over the centuries. As conquistadors invaded the natives in Mexico, Thena, seeing the savage violence around her, was afflicted by a mental illness known to The Eternals as Mahd Wy’ry, which provoked her to engage her fellow Eternals in combat. Unbeknownst to the Eternals (sans Ajak), Mahd Wy’ry was caused by the sudden mental flooding of memories from past lives lived. In this state, Thena was able to see the true purpose of The Eternals, and this provoked her into a blind rage, and being the Goddess of War and whatnot, she delivered quite the beating to her fellow Eternals.

Back at an Aztec Temple in the city, the Eternals regrouped, and Ajak proposed that Thena’s mind be erased in order for her to retain her sanity. This was seen as a horrific notion by the others, and Thena even begged Ajak not to go through with such a cruel act. As the debate continued and war raged below them, a frustrated Druig, rightfully blaming the chaos around them for Thena’s condition, proposed that he overtake the minds of the humans and force them into peace. Ajak adamantly refused this notion, noting that doing so would be a sin against Arishem. Druig nonetheless began manipulating the human’s minds, forcing them to drop their weapons. Druig refused to stop and declared that someone would have to kill him in order to make him stop, prompting the ever-devout Ikaris to step up to accept the job. Ajak held Ikaris back, however.

With The Deviants conquered, a disgusted Druig announced his departure from The Eternals and their blind service to Arishem. Ajak encouraged the others to go their own separate ways and to make new lives for themselves as well, and that is what they did.

For some 500-years, The Eternals remained separate from each other, living out their lives and watching the world around them change and grow. Some Eternals continued to use their gifts to benefit humanity, while others took to lives of solitude. Gilgamesh and Thena lived together in Australia where he helped her cope with her mental trauma. Sprite and Kingo journeyed to Macedonia where they lived together until Kingo grew tired of having to frequently move due to the suspicions that would ultimately surround Sprite due to her unageing. Kingo eventually landed in India where he became a famed Bollywood film star. Druig isolated himself in the Amazon with a band of followers where he oversaw them as a sort of cult leader. Ajak traveled the globe before ultimately settling down in South Dakota where Sprite lived with her for a time. Sersi and Ikaris remained a couple until Ikaris suddenly abandoned her in the 1920’s, never to return. With Ikaris gone, Sprite joined Sersi in London where Sersi eventually began dating a human male named Dane Whitman. Makkari settled down in Iraq where she collected various artifacts and longed to return home from Earth. Phastos continued to influence humans technologically speaking, for hundreds of years, but lost his appreciation for humanity following two World Wars, genocide, the birth of human Super Soldiers like The Red Skull and Captain America, the harnessing of Cosmic Power (via The Tesseract), and the creation of the Atomic Bomb. A disheartened Phastos vowed to never again assist humanity with his gifts, and he in fact lost all faith in mankind until falling in love with a human male with whom he settled down in Chicago and started a family, via the adoption of a son.

In the human year of 2018, Thanos of Titan invaded Earth and used the combined power of the Infinity Stones to erase half of all life throughout the Universe with the Snap of his fingers, fulfilling his life’s goal of Balancing the Universe. Thanos’ actions robbed the Earth of billions of portions of the required life force necessary to birth its Celestial, postponing the looming Emergence that Ajak had previously grown to believe was imminent, with Earth having reached a population of over 7-billion people prior to Thanos’ Snap. Five years later however, what was left of The Avengers traveled back through time to via the Quantum Realm where they collected past versions of the Infinity Stones and returned to the year 2023 with them, using them to ultimately defeat a time-traveling Thanos Variant and reverse his Snap, returning those who’d been erased from existence by the Mad Titan. The population of Earth doubled in an instant, sparking an unprecedented burst of life force and significantly speeding up the scheduled Emergence.

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In the year 2024, a series of worldwide earthquakes begin to break out, alerting Ajak to the fact that the Emergence is about to take place. Coinciding with these earthquakes is the return of the thought-to-be long dead Deviants, who begin to thaw out of the Alaskan ice due to the rapid heating of the Earth’s core. Ajak summons Ikaris to meet with her and confesses to having grown too fond of humanity to see it be eradicated, inspired by their heroics in reversing the Snap. Ikaris confirms that he’d known all about the true purpose of The Eternals since their collective days in Babylon and journeys with Ajak to Alaska to address the Deviant situation. There, Ikaris stuns Ajak with his decree that he is not willing to defy Arishem under any circumstance and he murders Ajak by pushing her off a cliff to be devoured by The Deviants. Having absorbed Ajak’s Cosmic Energy, The Deviants – led by the militant Kro – begin rapidly evolving. In the meantime, Ikaris flies the lifeless body of Ajak back to her South Dakota homestead where he leaves her on the ground outside.

Kro meanwhile ventures to London where he launches a violent attack on Sersi and Sprite that is witnessed by Sersi’s boyfriend Dane. Sersi, Sprite, and Dane receive help from Ikaris, who’d not seen Sersi in some 100-years at this point. Ikaris stresses the importance of figuring out how and why The Deviants have returned, and suggests they seek out Ajak together. The trio therefore venture to South Dakota, where they find the corpse of their spiritual leader. While examining Ajak’s body, the Celestial Communication Sphere that had been exclusive to Ajak and enabled her connection to Arishem, ventures from Ajak’s lifeless body into the living body of Sersi, who becomes Arishem’s new emissary as a result.

After meeting with Arishem, Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite venture to Mumbai to recruit Kingo. Upon the insistence of his valet Karun, Kingo agrees to take part in the family mission to avenge Ajak’s death, bringing Karun along for the ride to document his exploits via film. The quartet of Eternals (with Karun) next go to Australia and recruit Gilgamesh and Thena. It is here where Sersi learns the true purpose of The Eternals from Arishem, sparking a huge moral conflict within her. Sersi informs the others of what she’s learned and proposes they find a way to prevent the Emergence from occurring. It is then off to the Amazon to recruit Druig for that very purpose.

Druig isn’t exactly thrilled by the entire notion of getting the proverbial band back together to fight a Celestial, and the ensuing delay in his decision provides an opportunity for The Deviants to ambush The Eternals. In what is a fierce and tragic battle, Gilgamesh is murdered by Kro, who uses the energy of Gilgamesh to further evolve. The ambush and the death of Gilgamesh prompt Druig to rejoin the team, and it is decided by all involved that the intellect of Phastos would be needed to devise an appropriate battle plan.

In Chicago, Sersi and Ikaris learn of Phastos’ journey from losing faith in humanity to finding it again through his family. Phastos initially refuses to assist the group, noting that he wants to spend his final days with his family, but Phastos’ husband Ben convinces Phastos to go do whatever he can to save the world for Jack’s sake.

From there, The Eternals venture to Iraq to unearth their ship, which is being inhabited by Makkari. Phastos devises a plan of attack that will be achieved through the combining of the minds of The Eternals to form what Phastos labels a Uni-Mind. As he formulates the how and the why of the Uni-Mind, Ikaris reveals his true colors by interfering in Phastos’ work and vowing to do whatever he needs to, in order to prevent his fellow Eternals from preventing the Emergence. Ikaris’ words and actions prompt Sersi to realize that her former lover had murdered Ajak.

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A moral dispute then divides The Eternals. Sprite sides with Ikaris while Kingo voices that he agrees with Ikaris but will not fight for or against either side. This leaves Sersi, Makkari, Druig, Phastos, and Thena to fight for humanity. Phastos realizes that he can use Sersi’s Communication Sphere to link The Eternals and form the Uni-Mind, which will be triggered by Druig. This leads to a showdown pitting Sersi’s Eternals against Ikaris. The Deviant leader Kro soon joins the battle as well, seeking out Thena in an effort to further evolve. Thena manages to kill Kro however, and then joins Sersi’s Eternals in forming the Uni-Mind. The only way to stop the Emergence would be through the death of the Celestial that was to be birthed, and as it begins to emerge, Sersi uses her powers to transform the Celestial into stone, preventing the Emergence, and leaving a lasting sculpture of the emerging Celestial.

With the Emergence thwarted, Sersi, now more powerful than ever, uses her powers to transform Sprite into a human so that she can grow up and live out a normal life. From there, the remaining Eternals split-up into two groups with Druig, Makkari, and Thena leaving Earth to search for other Eternals and Sersi, Kingo, Phastos, and the now human Sprite staying behind. Ikaris fled Earth and flew into the sun, presumably committing suicide. Both groups of Eternals were soon shaken up, however. On Earth, Arishem manifests himself physically, terrifying a sect of humans and abducting Sersi, Phastos, Kingo, and Sprite. In the meantime, Druig, Kingo, and Makkari are confronted by Eros (a fellow Eternal and the brother of Thanos) and his associate Pip the Troll. Eros informa his fellow Eternals of the whereabouts of Sersi, Kingo, Phastos, and Sprite, and offerea to assist The Eternals in finding their family members while Arishem declarea that he will scour the memories of his captured creations in an effort to determine whether or not the humans of Earth should be allowed to continue to exist.

So yeah, Eternals was a lot to digest. A lot of information was dumped on fans, and I can see where it might have been difficult to follow, given all of the jumping around the film did. I would say in fact, that going back-and-forth from the present to the past as often as they did was largely a mistake. Especially upon my first viewing, it was jarring and at times a little hard to follow as I tried to establish a connection with these characters. All of this works much better on the second viewing though, for you can take-in those scenes that take place in the present, under the proper pretext. That being said, I will also defend Marvel Studios on the choice to do it this way. The alternative would have been to show a chronological series of events with title cards of “2,000-years later, 5,000 years later, 500-years later”, etc, and I don’t think that would have worked well either. Maybe in a perfect world, this could have been a two-part story, but doing that would have kept these characters out of the MCU Timeline for even longer, so I really do understand why things were done the way they were done. Marvel Studios needed us to understand the history of these characters and Marvel Studios needed to get these characters caught-up and into the present. This made the path that was ultimately chosen a necessary evil.

In praising this film, I have to go back to the characters again. These were some really awesome characters! My favorite has to be Gilgamesh. Don Lee was so likable, and he just had this wonderful personality. I hate that he was killed-off, because he was so good in this role. His special bond with Angelina Jolie’s Thena was one of my favorite parts of this movie. I really enjoyed their scenes together! Gilgamesh was oftentimes funny and jovial, but he was grounded in strong conviction and compassion. I loved how Don Lee executed the scene where he learns of Ajak’s death as he drops his precious pie and falls into a stunned silence. Great stuff, and he was fantastic in his death scene as well.

Right behind Gilgamesh is Thena. I was excited about Angelina Jolie joining the MCU, and I thought she did a great job with her character in Eternals. I’ll admit that the Mahd Wy’ry stuff was weird at first, but this too plays out better in a second viewing, once you have all of the information and fully understand what it is and why she gets afflicted with it. I really liked Thena’s golden costume as well, and she had what was for me, the best kill of the movie when she sliced Kro’s face to pieces!

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I loved Makkari in this film! Lauren Ridloff was sensational! Deaf in real life, she was a true inspiration to watch perform throughout this movie! I could have done with a little more of her at the end of the day, but what we did get was great! The way Marvel Studios did her speed effects made for the best execution of such powers that I’ve seen in live action to date! Watching her run was spectacular, and I can’t wait to see more of her in the MCU! (A team-up with Maya Lopez would be sensational)!

Phastos was another character that I thoroughly enjoyed. I really do hate the backlash over Brian Tyree Henry in this film, because he delivered a very strong performance. He was warm and funny, and he delivered two of my favorite moments of this movie. The first was the aftermath of the Atomic Bomb scene where he just cried and cried amidst the destruction that the bomb left in its wake. It’s the idea of this Eternal being emotionally crippled by the realization that something he loved so dearly could be capable of such horror that got to me. War is ugly and senseless, and it sucks. I’ve never actually lived in a world where the Atomic Bomb didn’t exist, and I enjoy productions that call back to that day and that period and explore the impact that it had on humanity. The other scene I loved with Phastos was his declaration that he did not exist to serve Arishem or any other so-called higher power. He lived his life for his family; his dear husband and beloved son; the two people who restored his faith in humanity through the love that he shared with the both of them. Humans are capable of such terrible and beautiful things, and I really liked how that notion was addressed in this film.

I did not like Ikaris as a character, but I thought Richard Madden did an awesome job with the character! He was pretty likable for most of the movie and then when he turned, he was wonderful in villain mode. He seemed so cold when he murdered Ajak, and then you realize how casually he lied to and misled and manipulated his fellow Eternals, and he just comes off as this really awful being. The filmmakers did a really good job with allowing viewers to see from his viewpoint, but for me as a person, I hated his viewpoint and therefore hated the character. I do not and cannot understand why people do horrible things in the name of their gods while insisting their gods are worthy of praise and worship. I won’t go into a full religious diatribe here, but I’ve experienced being labeled wrong, unfaithful, and damned by people I deeply loved in the name of their God, and I do not see the love in that, nor will I ever understand it. Ikaris hit really close to home for me.

I will add though, that Eternals did a really good job of conveying on film the way that I think about certain things and making it food for thought for viewers who care to think on it. Marvel Studios essentially turned God heel here, to steal a term from Professional Wrestling, establishing Arishem as both a creator and a destroyer, as well as a judge who commands servitude while permitting all forms of pain and suffering and death and destruction. I thought this was a bold and thought-provoking move, but I will say here, that I do not believe that Arishem really is the top of the proverbial mountain in the MCU. In the comics, The Eternals are not the end all, be all of creation. Specifically, there is an entity known as The One Above All, who is the Supreme Ruler of the Multiverse and the ultimate source of love and good. In all likelihood, it is this entity who will ultimately be established as the peak of godhood in the MCU, as Arishem’s story is just that … Arishem’s story, and it could be a lie.

Regardless, fighting or ostracizing others over their beliefs just because they don’t line-up with yours is a shitty thing, but sadly, it’s a tale as old as time and is why religion has been the predominant driving force behind some of the deadliest wars in human history and Kingo delivered what is probably my favorite line in the whole movie when he declared that he did not agree with Sersi’s Eternals, but that he would not fight them over it either. I really, really love that line and that message. Yes, these are superheroes and comic book characters, but these movies are also forms of expression and we can learn from them, and if we, as a species could learn that the world would be a much better place.

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Kingo was a very fun character though, and I loved Kumail Nanjiani’s dynamic with Harish Patel’s Karun. Some of the funniest moments of this rather serious and dramatic film came from these two, and Kumail just oozed charisma throughout this movie. I really liked his Bollywood scene and the way he interacted with his fellow Eternals as well.

Lia McHugh was great as Sprite. She brought youthful exuberance and a subtle hint of tragedy, successfully pulling off a rather complicated character that is grounded in some quite mature themes. I suppose Sprite needed to be turned into a human at the end of the film due to the fact McHugh is a teenager and will of course continue noticeably growing, so they needed to explain her ageing within the narrative. I hope to see her be a little more mischievous in future MCU appearances.

Those were my most favorite characters from Eternals. Gemma Chan was perfectly fine as Sersi though, and I grew to like Barry Keoghan’s Druig more and more as the film progressed. I also thought Salma Hayek was great. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to get over seeing Pip the Troll in a major motion picture (and I love Patton Oswalt), and I think Kit Harington is going to make a fabulous Black Knight!

I did not necessarily like Kro. He will not go down as one of the MCU’s better villains, but I did really like The Deviants! I thought they looked and moved cool, and they were violent and scary and monstrous. I mean, superheroes fighting monsters – what’s not to like about that!?! I really felt The Deviants as a whole brought a different element to this film in the midst of everything else that was going on, and I was all for it.

Before I close out this very long review / write-up, I promised to address the Ego situation, so here you go. Like I wrote earlier, as I understand it, Ego was an experimental Celestial that was created by Arishem; a type of Organic Celestial. I believe the Celestials are not humanoid in their appearance. This is probably why they wear armor; to give them a physical form through which to operate. On top of that, the Celestials obviously do not reproduce in the way that humans do. They plant a seed; much like Ego did, though Ego’s purpose was to expand himself, not his species. He only wanted to reproduce in order to have someone to share his Celestial Power with; someone who could serve as a sort of battery that would enable Ego to fulfill his Expansion. Unlike his Celestial counterparts, Ego first existed as a floating brain. Also, Ego could very obviously procreate through sexual intercourse. I believe this is why Ego was created; to see if this new kind of Organic Celestial could potentially be fruitful and multiply. Ego ended up spawning many children, but he also ended up being an arrogant and murderous psychopath that was unable to pass his Celestial heritage on to any of his offspring, sans Peter Quill; his half-human / half-Celestial son from Earth. Beyond that, Ego never emerged from a planetary body, he actually made himself into one: a Living Planet. So, there are similarities but there are also many differences, and I believe Arishem saw Ego as a failure and maybe even an abomination and saw Ego’s defeat at the hands of The Guardians of the Galaxy as a fitting judgment.

In the end, maybe Marvel Studios made Eternals just for me! I felt that way about Age of Ultron back in 2015 when everyone was hating on it, and I felt that way about Thor: The Dark World before that. I don’t know, Eternals just worked for me, and aside from some pacing issues that are resolved with a second viewing, it checked all of the boxes for me! I believe Eternals is a film that will only get better with age as we see these characters continue to grow and appear in other places within the MCU.

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Highlights of Eternals:

Outstanding Cast

Compelling Characters

Bold Philosophical Themes

Gorgeous Cinematography Throughout

Excellent Costume Designs

The Deviants

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Don Lee as Gilgamesh

Angelina Jolie as Thena

Lauren Ridloff as Makkari

Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos

Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo

Lauren McHugh as Sprite

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Dynamic Between Thena and Gilgamesh

The Execution of Makkari’s Super Speed

Arishem!

Jack Kirby Honored in Spectacular Fashion

Flashback Scenes Showing The Eternals’ Influence on Human History

The Marvel Studios Team Staying True to their Conviction in the Face of Threats and Backlash

Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company

Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:

Arishem. The World Forge. The Eternals. The Deviants. Ajak. Ikaris. Sersi. Gilgamesh. Thena. Phastos. Kingo. Druig. Makkari. Sprite. Dane Whitman. Eros / Starfox. Pip the Troll. Blade.