The MCU has now become arguably the most successful franchise in Hollywood history. While it had humble beginnings, they slowly became huge box office earners with many different individual movies and epic crossovers. However, after a dream run with the Infinity Saga, the franchise has been struggling for the past 2-3 years.
Fans expecting great things after the franchise high of Avengers: Endgame were disappointed with most of the MCU projects in Phase 4. 2021’s Eternals became one of the lowest-grossing MCU films in a long time. However, one MCU film from Phase 1 grossed less than Eternals and still spawned sequels, but the circumstances were different.
Unlike Eternals, Captain America: The First Avenger Got a Sequel After Three Years
One of the significant Phase 1 MCU films was Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans, which film kicked off Steve Rogers’ journey into becoming Captain America in the 1940s and waking up in the modern world by the end of the film. However, the film did not make as much financially as other initial MCU films like Iron Man and Thor.
As per Gamerant, the film grossed only $370 million against a production budget of $149 million. Phase 4 projects, which also similarly underperformed, were 2021’s Eternals, which grossed $402 million against a $236.2 million budget. But Captain America 1 got two sequels, while there has not been any announcement of an Eternals sequel even after more than 2 years of release.
There is a simple explanation for this. Captain America: The First Avenger was one of the stepping stones of the MCU, and Marvel Studios was not expecting a great commercial box office fare out of it. Additionally, the film was received very well by fans who were looking forward to seeing more of the character in the MCU.
Captain America became one of the de-facto leaders of the Avengers along with Iron Man. Captain America 1 set up the character’s morals and beliefs in such a great way, which paid off with Captain America: The Winter Soldier becoming a greater critical and commercial success in 2014.
By the time Eternals came around, fans had unreasonably high expectations of the franchise after Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, the film did not connect with fans and thus underperformed at the box office. Thus, the future of the Eternals is still unknown after the film’s failure.
Angelina Jolie Wants to Go Deeper With Thena in the MCU’s Future
Angelina Jolie‘s Thena had a particularly interesting arc in 2021’s Eternals, where she suffered from a form of dementia called Mahd Wy’ry. The character is seen frequently forgetting who her friends are, and we see her tragic arc played out in the film. In the end, she overcomes it and manages to kill Kro. Jolie was fascinated by her character’s origin and wants to go deeper with it in the MCU’s future.
In an interview with CinePop, the actress revealed that she would love to continue telling more stories of the Eternals and explore more of her character‘s inner struggles. She is also excited bout the prospect of appearing in other Marvel films with other characters. She said,
“I loved being part of the family, so I have no desire to separate from the family. But I would be happy to play her again and explore even more deeply the struggles that she has. I think it’s fun thinking of where they’ve been over the years. We’ve got thousands of years worth of material. We can take her anywhere. I think that’s fun and I like the idea that we can pop up somewhere, maybe in other Marvel movies.”
While the Eternals will surely return, it is not sure when or how they will come back in the MCU’s future. They will most probably play a part in the upcoming Avengers films. Fans can watch Jolie in action in 2021’s Eternals on Disney+.
