Marvel fans are revisiting Eternals as it has hit Disney+. Despite making $400 million+ at the Box Office, the response to this film could be considered okayish at best. And that’s not something that you’d really expect out of an MCU movie. It became the first and only critical failure of the MCU with a 47% Rotten Score on Rotten Tomatoes. While I’d say that the critics were wrong on many levels while judging this visual spectacle, I also understand that this film may not have been as appealing for everyone in the world. And because Marvel/Disney did not make profits out of Eternals, they could actually write out the entire movie if they wanted to.
While MCU’s cosmos keep on expanding, a vast multiverse has also been opened up. Shang-Chi, What If…?, Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and even WandaVision set up the multiverse. And now we’re going to see it be explored even further in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel. But do you know of the film that none of the other MCU projects referenced or hinted at in 2021? It was Eternals! Yes, I know that Chlo Zhao’s visually stunning film takes place within the MCU, but it could easily be written out of it using the Multiverse!
The Multiversal Scapegoat
Marvel used the infinite Earths concept to give us a magical moment involving 3 Spider-Men. They are going to do something even crazier in Multiverse of Madness. But maybe Marvel could use the multiverse to put Eternals in a different universe altogether. I’m not saying that maybe Doctor Strange messed up his second No Way Home spell and sent the Eternals to another universe like he possibly did with Adrian Toomes. I’m saying that Marvel could actually pretend that the events of the movie took place in a separate universe altogether!
Eternals showed us their history throughout the MCU. And they loosely tied things up with Thanos and Hulk’s snaps. But we were never practically shown where these Androids were during the events of any of the past MCU movies like The Avengers or Age of Ultron. Endgame exhibited how the also Ancient One defended the New York Sanctum against the Chitauri. But we never got to see any of the past events through the perspective of the Eternals. Even though they were not allowed to fight by Arishem, I believe that not putting them in any past MCU movie event was a big mistake. And what’s crazy is that Marvel could now use that to their advantage.
Why Eternals Could Be Written Out
Guardians of the Galaxy opened up the cosmos. It gave us a setup for Celestials with Eson the Searcher. Then, a couple of more Celestial shout-outs came with Vol. 2 and Avengers: Endgame. But those Celestial hints don’t necessarily sit well with Eternals. And as far as the Eternals or Deviants are concerned, we’ve never really got a hint for these two specials.
Loki was a series that totally set up the future of MCU. It opened up the Multiverse and referenced so many species. If we were to make a list of all alien species, then Loki used the Asgardians, the Frost Giants, the Kree, the Skrulls, Titans, and even Vampires. But sadly, there was no mention of Eternals or even the Celestials. I mean, it would have been so easy for Loki to set up Eternals with one or two small Easter Eggs. But we got nothing in its time-traveling multiversal events.
According to Disney+’s latest timeline, Eternals takes place before Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home. But even in these present-day events of late 2024, we got no mention of Eternals or any payoff to Tiamut’s emergence. It’s just crazy how disjointed Eternals feels with the rest of the MCU even though it isn’t.
So, as I’ve said earlier, Marvel could consider it as a missed opportunity. They could just say that Eternals happened in a different Universe where the snaps of Thanos, Hulk, and Tony also happened as decreed by the original Sacred Timeline. That way, Marvel can easily confirm that we shouldn’t expect any sequels. It won’t be hard for us to believe that because the rest of the MCU hasn’t really made any real effort to connect with the film. But maybe, this won’t happen after all!
Why Marvel Will Give It A Second Chance!!
Kevin Feige is the man with a plan! He trusts his vision and backs the narrative. Thor: The Dark World is believed to be among the weaker MCU movies, and it still got revisited repeatedly in Endgame. Now the same will happen now through Love and Thunder as well. Iron Man 3 angered many fans with its Mandarin reveal. But now that mistake has been rectified brilliantly with Shang-Chi. So, even though Eternals has supposedly failed, we can be sure that it will get a sequel and won’t be written out. Feige always learns from the errors and turns things around.
Besides, the Black Knight and Blade connection probably won’t let the movie be written out. Eternals 2 is also supposed to give us a bit of backstory upon Thanos. And the first one ended with the promise that “Eternals will return.” It’s needless to say that Marvel always fulfills its promises. So hopefully, the Eternals cliffhangers will be resolved soon and the upcoming projects will deal with the consequences of the Emergence. I personally liked the movie and would love to see its story be fully fleshed out. But Marvel should really try to hype up Eternals 2 using a few setups and quick cameos in their other upcoming projects if they want to make the franchise profitable too.
Although, if Disney isn’t fond of this film, then Marvel could easily delete it using the Multiverse. There, I’ve said it!
Would you care if Eternals 2 does not happen? Tell us your stance on the matter.
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