Let the fight begin!
For the first time, I would say ever, the fans of Marvel and the movie critics can’t seem to agree on what they thought of Eternals. The initial critics’ reviews gave Eternals one of the lowest ratings in MCU history, worrying many fans. As the opening weekend has now come and gone, fans have a very different story on what they think of Eternals. So what did we think?
For our full thoughts, make sure to listen to the entire podcast below!
So let’s start with the most simple and broad rating. Eternals was good, great even. It had moments that were a little slow, which hurt some of the other great scenes, but the characters were amazing, the visuals beautiful, and the plot finally shook some things up. The only other thing Eternals suffered from? The slight issue of too many villains, a problem that Marvel has had several times before.
Having too many villains isn’t new for a Marvel movie. I mean, the best example (and while this is not necessarily MCU but still in the wheelhouse) is Spider-Man 3. But Iron Man 2 suffered from this issue, and so did Iron Man 3 a little. While they both had main villains, they were all over the place due to adding an additional villain layer that wasn’t totally needed. Now Eternals falls slightly into this as well. The idea set up in the trailer and throughout most of the movie is that the Deviants were the bad guys and the Eternals needed to fight them to save the people of Earth from being attacked and killed. When the twist comes with Ikaris (which we will get to more in-depth), it would have made sense if the Deviants became less of an issue. Yet, the Deviants, primarily the most powerful one who took both Ajak’s and Gilgamesh’s powers, is still a prominent player and is in the final fight. It is also strange, as Ikaris talks about how powerful the Deviant is, even before he kills Gilgamesh, yet he is able to be taken down one-on-one with Thena. Now, this is not anything against Thena, but it seems strange that such a powerful creature takes the back burner in the last third of the movie and does little to fight against the Eternals. You would think striking them all while they are already preoccupied with fighting one of their own would have been a golden opportunity.
However, let’s talk about that twist because I would give it one of the most jaw-dropping and best surprises that the MCU has brought forward, and I’m a Bucky Barnes fan. Icaris being the final battle bad guy was something I have to say I never saw coming, and a part of that goes out to the marketing team who made sure the trailer had us thinking one specific way. Something Taylor points out in the podcast was the slight disappointment that Icaris will no longer be in future films, as he killed himself after he could not stop the woman he loved from her mission and fought all of his family. While disappointing, I think the ending was poetic and was fitting to his character. It sure as all heck surprised me that they chose to do that, breaking from some of the usual Marvel molds. Don’t get me wrong I love Marvel, but sometimes the usual molds can be tiring.
It wouldn’t be right of me not to talk about Thena and Angelina Jolie’s performance. I was wary of Angelina Jolie coming into the MCU, not because I don’t like her, but because of how big of a name she is. But I will say she blew me away, all while giving me a new comfort character to add to my already growing favorite damaged characters list. Thena is seen as such a powerful warrior but is haunted by the fact she has too many memories in her head. The relationship between her and Gilgamesh was inspiring and a true show of friendship. I thought that Thena was perfectly done and I look forward to seeing her in future work.
Of course, my fave Druig must be mentioned, as he stole my heart as he and Makkari interacted. I loved the two of them, much more than Icaris and Sersi, and look forward to more of them as well.
While on this topic slightly, the representation in this movie was moving. With such a diverse cast, to begin with, seeing them come and add life to these characters in ways we never have seen in Marvel was truly powerful. This was the type of movie Marvel needed to make, and this group of individuals was the right way to do it. I don’t think one cast member fell short of their performance, including Sprite who was so annoying (which was literally part of the character, and therefore the performance was *chef’s kiss*).
And lastly, while I gush about this movie, I need to gush about the fact Harry Styles has entered the MCU. Chloé Zhao has made it clear she has kept tabs on Styles since his time in Dunkirk and sees him as the perfect fit for Thanos’ brother. While an end credit scene is far too short to be able to truly make that deduction, I think it will be interesting where his character and interaction with these other Eternals take us.
So where are we going to see the Eternals next? In a sequel at least, but will we see them interact with other superheroes? The Eternals are highly powerful beings, so seeing them next to someone like Sam or even Spider-Man could be a stretch. But, if we are going to get a cosmic war, there’s no telling what heroes might end up involved. We are starting over, creating new stories that will eventually find their way intertwined with some of our others (or maybe not. There’s no telling where these next few phases are going to go).
Eternals was everything (and some more) than we could have asked for, and it really excites me to see the new heroes being introduced to us. With Hawkeye and Spider-Man coming out to round up this year, make sure you are keeping up with all this new content, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.
Image: “Eternals”, Colin Cheney, Fatherly
Sisters Assembled 