Remember Eternals? No? Well, neither does most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As the Marvel universe continues to expand across its films and Disney Plus series, fans have been gobsmacked by how little Eternals has impacted the rest of the MCU. The 2021 blockbuster featured a ensemble cast of A-list actors, only to become the first Marvel Studios film to be “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes.
The climax of the 156 minute flick involves the the Emergence of a giant Celestial from the core of the Earth, as Ikaris tries to stop his former teammates from delaying the Emergence. The appearance of a giant hand and robot head in the Indian Ocean feels surely like something that would grab headlines in any universe, but so far there’s been nowt acknowledgement of this even happening.
Fans have been split on Eternals since its premiere, but they’re almost all baffled by how in the three projects to come out of the MCU since its release (Hawkeye, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Moon Knight), none of them have remarked upon this happening.
Likewise is the cliff-hanger ending of the movie, which sees Arishem the Celestial appear before seemingly everyone on Earth, vowing to make his judgement on humanity. Considering Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman sees Sersi get grabbed by Arishem, it feels like his next appearance will surely reference the film.
Eternals director Chloe Zhao has said she planted “many seeds” for sequels, but so far there hasn’t been a greenlight for a follow-up to one of the most divisive Marvel films.