On paper at least, The Eternals looks like the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest gamble since Guardians of the Galaxy first hit our screens in 2014. There are definitely similarities between the projects, too, with both of them being cosmic-based ensemble movies featuring an eclectic cast of characters that the vast majority of general audiences aren’t too familiar with.
At this stage of their success, every entry in the MCU is virtually guaranteed to be a massive box office hit, which takes some of the pressure off The Eternals, but there’s no doubting that Kevin Feige is really branching out when it comes to the scope and scale of this one. Without the Marvel branding, a mega-budget sci-fi that centers on a group of immortal aliens waging a millennia-long war against their evil counterparts sounds like a tough sell, but at this point the franchise is essentially bulletproof, which allows the studio to take risks like this.
We’ve known for a while that the story would span thousands of years, thanks to numerous set photos that show scenes being shot both in the modern day and across ancient history, but in a recent interview at Brazil’s CCXP, Kevin Feige offered up a more definitive timescale for The Eternals, and it certainly sounds as though director Chloe Zao has a lot of ground to cover.
“The Eternals is an epic that spans 7,000 years of human history, has cosmic connotations and changes everything we know about the MCU. It’s ambitious, and takes… from present-day to Mesopotamia, to all sorts of locations and time periods, and really feels like nothing we’ve done before.”
The main driving force behind the story will be the ongoing battles between the title characters and the Deviants, but Feige has been dropping more tantalizing hints about the project recently, teasing a potential Thanos cameo and making it clear that The Eternals are more than aware of the existence and activities of the Avengers.
While the crowd at CCXP are so far the only ones lucky enough to have seen footage from the movie, most people are expecting the first official trailer for The Eternals to be attached to Black Widow when the next installment in the MCU hits theaters in May 2020. As always, though, watch this space for more.
