Marvel fatigue is here. The reviews for Chloé Zhao’s Eternals are coming in as the film releases today, and it’s not looking so good for the latest post-Avengers expansion to the MCU.
If Rotten Tomatoes is any indication, Eternals is going to be serviceable for big fans of Marvel—the kind who see it on day one and leave a review—and middling for those of us who aren’t already bought into the new Avengers premise. The morning of release, critic scores came in at 49% from 241 reviews, while RT reports its Audience Score is at 86% based on over 1000 fan reviews.
So what are the reviews actually saying? Fanboys of the Universe says Eternals is “just another step in the MCU timeline” while the Boston Globe criticizes the films’ “lots (and lots) of exposition, which does little for understanding and even less for pacing.” Eternals is a “rambling and repetitive” story per the Wall Street Journal, or, as The Bulwark put it, “Marvel’s first DC movie.”
Audience reviews on the site mostly take a different tone. “This was a great stand-alone movie. Better than half of the marvel stand-alone movies” writes pm fan. Another praises Eternals for “good action. Good setup for bigger things that are going to be happening in the future of mcu and the big reveal in end credits that you will want to see live.” “Enough action to keep me excited and enough story to make me care about out [sic] heroes,” and “It felt like different in a good way! Breath of fresh air for Marvel!”
Not all audience reviews are glowing, however. One fan describes the film as “ok for what it is,” while another agrees with much of the critical consensus, saying that “the plot was all over the place.” “A little long and choppy,” remarks another. “There was just a lot going on at once.”
Eternals is out in theaters now. Have you already seen it? Let us know what you thought in the usual place below!
