One upon a time, a movie like Eternals would be viewed as a huge risk and gamble for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a $200 million cosmic comic book adaptation based on a property that doesn’t hold much name recognition with casual audiences, featuring a narrative told across 7000 years focusing almost entirely on a roster of characters that won’t hold much sway among those unfamiliar with the source material.
However, the MCU is about as bulletproof as it gets at this point, and with just over five months to go until it hits theaters a year behind schedule, the first full-length trailer for Chloe Zhao’s intergalactic epic has finally arrived. Marvel have been playing their cards very close to the chest with this one, and the snippet of footage in the recent Phase Four teaser is all we’ve had to go on up until now.
The last time the franchise tackled a relatively obscure property beyond the stars, though, we got James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and while Eternals is an altogether different beast in terms of tone, style and storyline, it definitely seems destined to enjoy a similar level of acclaim and popularity looking at what Zhao has in store.
As well as being co-written and directed by a two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker, the ensemble also boasts a solid mix of established stars like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, along with rising talents Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Kit Harington and Barry Keoghan. Eternals has all of the ingredients to launch the MCU’s second major cosmic franchise, and it certainly appears as though it’s going to deliver big time this November once the wait is finally over.