As far as franchises go, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is effectively bulletproof. Kevin Feige’s mythology has built up such a massive amount of goodwill from audiences over the last thirteen years that anything bearing the MCU branding is virtually guaranteed to find vast levels of success.
Which is just as well, because Eternals has suffered the unwanted distinction of becoming the lowest-rated of the 26 installments to date on Rotten Tomatoes, despite having a two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker at the helm. The movie comes to theaters this Friday, where it’s still expected to post strong opening weekend numbers.
In an interview with The Toronto Sun, producer Nate Moore admitted that Eternals was equal parts risky and ambitious, but they were chances worth taking in order to give fans something they’d never seen before.
“It’s our most ambitious first film. Because of that we wanted to take a big swing. We wanted to take some chances and give audiences something that feels completely new.”
A sweeping space opera that spans almost the entirety of human civilization, featuring a core cast of a dozen characters we’ve never met before as they battle against their arch-nemeses the Deviants while the shadow of Avengers: Endgame loom in the background wasn’t an easy sell on paper; it’s just a shame that many critics don’t think director Chloé Zhao has managed to pull it off completely successfully.
