Eternals lands in theaters in just a few weeks and is set to explore the prehistory of the MCU and how its immortal characters have influenced humanity’s growth. But a big question the film has to answer is why this group of incredibly powerful heroes hasn’t intervened in any of the world-threatening crises already faced by the MCU’s Earth.
Some of this is down to their strict philosophy of letting us make our own mistakes, but it’d have been nice if they at least stopped Thanos wiping out half of all life in the universe.
But director Chloe Zhao has now confirmed that the movie largely stands alone as its own story and doesn’t contain too many ongoing story strands from the wider MCU. In an interview with Fandango she was asked if Eternals pushes forward the multiversal narrative seen in Loki and What If…? (and soon in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). She replied:
The film completely stands alone. If you know half the universe disappeared and it came back, that’s all you need to know to watch this film. But what happens in this film will have huge implications on the future.
It’s arguably a smart move to step away from the rat’s nest of interconnected stories in order to focus on these new characters, but then again several of the MCU’s biggest hits have also been their most self-referential. Regardless, the trailers show that the characters are aware of other heroes and the big MCU events.
Zhao also revealed that, like most modern MCU movies, there will be both mid and post-credits scenes:
Don’t just stay for the first one — also stay for the second one, too. They are equally as important in weight, and both have big surprises for you.
My bet is that these will bring in other MCU heroes in much the same manner as the Shang-Chi credits scene did. In that, we saw the new hero introduced to heavy-hitters like Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner, so expect similar cameos here.
The Eternals marketing campaign is now in full swing, with advertisements appearing around the world, TV spots regularly being released, and interviews with Zhao and her cast. Let’s hope we get some more hints as to what’s going on in the movie prior to its November 5th release.
