Eternals Is Not as Bad as You Think

The Big Picture

• Eternals received negative reviews upon release, but has gained a resurgence of love from fans online.
• The film's minimal reliance on CGI allows for a unique visual language and showcases the strength of the cast.
• Eternals explores rich themes of moral relativity, passivity, choice, and belief within the confines of a Marvel movie.

The Marvels, the most recent entry in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, was initially panned by critics and opened to poor box office reception. With its recent availability on Disney+, general audiences are discovering the fun, light-hearted nature of the Captain Marvel sequel starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani. However, this isn’t the first time that fans have changed their tune about a recently released, poorly-received Marvel movie. It’s time to look back at another female-directed MCU ensemble movie that also didn’t get its flowers until it was available on streaming — Eternals.

Helmed by Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, Eternals reunites the titular team after centuries of separation when their historic rivals, the Deviants, reappear after the events of Avengers: Endgame. From there, the immortal beings have to wrestle with their complicity with humanity’s fate, as well as their contentious relationships with each other. Like The Marvels, at the time of its release in November 2021, it received a negative response from critics. While Eternals is certainly not a perfect film, it definitely didn’t deserve the onslaught of bad faith opinions nor a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, out of the recent Marvel movies to have been released, Eternals is one of the few that has aged better with time, gaining a resurgence of love from fans online.

Eternals

The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.

‘Eternals’ Beats the Bad CGI Reputation Allegations

Marvel Studios has long since been accused of relying too heavily on uninteresting visual effects. Even with all the money and new technology such as The Volume at their disposal, much of the criticism towards the MCU has been about how the visual effects being used are too similar, and frankly, bland. Not to mention, with the often narrow deadlines these visual effects artists are working under, the final product doesn’t tend to leave an impression.

Therefore, it was a bold statement for Zhao to film at as many on-set locations as possible. Being known for her naturalistic aesthetic, the minimal reliance on CGI allowed Zhao to maintain her signature visual language within the framework of the MCU. Considering how often Marvel directors are critiqued for not taking creative risks, this is significant. Plus, it decreased the usual pressure on the visual effects artists, so they could make the visuals stand out that much more. The grandeur of Arishem the Judge (David Kaye) nor the Deviants would look nearly as striking as they would if Zhao had chosen to shoot primarily on green screen.

It is worth noting that Eternals did have the benefit of the release date being pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic, giving the visual effects artists more time with the movie. As of September 2023, Marvel Studios’ visual effects artists have voted to unionize in order to push for better working deadlines for future projects.

The Strength of the ‘Eternals’ Cast Enhances Its Complex Characters

Eternals stands out for assembling a cast in a class of its own, which Sarah Finn and her casting team deserve extra recognition for. Not only does Eternals feature the A-list talents of Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, it also features stars like Barry Keoghan on his meteoric rise in Hollywood. Having already worked with prolific directors like Yorgos Lanthimos and Christopher Nolan, Keoghan made a name for himself for the darkness and intensity he brings to roles. This made him perfect as Druig in Eternals, who leaves the group after centuries of being tortured by the destructive nature of mankind and being commanded not to interfere with his powers of mind manipulation. In a way, Marvel Studios was ahead of the curve working with Keoghan before he would later blow up for his performances in The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn.

Eternals is a sprawling story about the relationship between humanity and the Eternals across the millennia. The Eternals, being diverse in age, ethnicity, and powers, come to view humanity and its purpose in their own way; they all have their own agendas. Even when they’re faced with the truth that they’re essentially robots created by the Celestials in order for new Celestials to be created, each of them has to grapple with where they stand. Some, like Sersi and Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), have come to genuinely love and assimilate to humanity through romantic relationships, while others, like Ikaris and Sprite (Lia McHugh), distance themselves from getting too close. This creates its own tension within this dysfunctional family that has known each other too long.

One of the characters that best embodies this complexity is Kingo, played by Kumail Nanjiani. While waiting for The Emergence, Kingo has been making a name for himself as a Bollywood star; he’s deeply entrenched with humanity. When Ikaris and Sprite leave the others to ensure Tiamut is born, Kingo refuses to join them because he doesn’t believe in turning on his family; however, Kingo refuses to fight alongside Sersi and the remaining Eternals because he ultimately believes in Arishem. Keep in mind he makes this decision with his human valet, Karun (Harish Patel), in front of him. It’s not a clear-cut decision for him. Even after Sersi succeeds in killing Tiamut, Kingo still questions whether that was the right call. This type of apathy towards Earth’s fate juxtaposed with his fervent faith in the Celestials hasn’t been seen or explored before in the MCU.

For the Sake of the MCU, 'Secret Invasion' Can't Become Another 'Eternals'

Game-changing developments should matter.

The Rich Themes in ‘Eternals’ Have Gotten Better With Time

When Eternals was initially released, it was the first Marvel project that had minimal connection to the MCU at the current time — a sort of precursor to what we now know as Marvel Spotlight. With only light references to Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Avengers, and the Blip, the core characters are untethered by the interwoven nature of what would be later known as the Multiverse Saga. At the time, this was seen as a detriment, a movie that would’ve served better as a Disney+ series. While many of the Multiverse Saga projects have focused on themes of grief and PTSD, Eternals is singular for dissecting moral relativity, passivity, choice, and belief within the confines of a Marvel movie.

When it comes down to it, Eternals is a reflection of the MCU’s maturation. Marvel Studios has made an empire for itself as quippy action movies with increasingly more CGI and the expectation of crossovers in the form of a billion-dollar team-up movie. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s fun to have fun with these movies, but there is room to do something new. Eternals was the first foray into this new landscape in 2021 — new characters, new visual storytelling, and new themes. It doesn’t rely on how many jokes it can land per scene, nor does it abandon a climactic third-act fight with a CGI being. Instead, Eternals challenges the audience to take a journey alongside these godlike robots as they discover their purpose for living. It was an ambitious risk at the time, but looking at where the MCU is currently, Zhao’s meditation on the role of gods in the universe has only aged better with time.

Eternals is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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