It may have featured a ragtag ensemble of superheroes with a variety of unique abilities putting their differences to one side, who ultimately come together against a shared threat and save the world by the conclusion of the third act, but that’s about the beginning and end of the similarities between Eternals and X-Men.
Charles Xavier’s mutants have always been rooted in allegory and sociopolitical subtext, while the intergalactic adventures of the Eternals have been less concerned with weighty themes and heavy undertones. In an interview with the Phase Zero podcast, producer Nate Moore outlined why Chloe Zhao’s epic was nothing like the X-Men, while simultaneously admitting that the parallels are there to be drawn in some respects.
“To me, our goal with the film wasn’t to make it a film about diversity in a way that I think X-Men has to be. X-Men is a super direct allegory in which these people are, are ostracized and, and persecuted for who they are. And that’s very much the story of X-Men that’s that’s in the DNA. What I find interesting about Eternals is the movie has zero commentary about that. The characters don’t talk about it.
This film is very much a conversation I would argue about faith and purpose and the value of humanity, but not in the context necessarily of the diversity conversation that we’re having in our everyday lives. I think if, and when we get to an X-Men movie, we’re going to have to have that conversation because that’s very much in the DNA of, of that thematically.”
We know the square root of nothing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s plans for rebooting the X-Men other than the fact it’s happening eventually, but given the franchise’s increased focus on diversity and representation, we can safely assume that it’ll continue to reflect real-world issues, which is what the comic books have been doing for 60 years.
Eternals was a huge step forward, though, looking at how it features the MCU’s first deaf and LGBTQ+ superheroes, but X-Men will march to the beat of a much different drum whenever it eventually arrives.
