Eternals is set to flesh out the deep mythology of the MCU, introducing new characters with powers that exceed many of the Avengers, facing an existential threat beyond anything Marvel’s heroes have experienced before.
So, why is the online hype being overshadowed by mockery? Plot twists and scenes from the film are being memed before the film’s release - early leaks, along with a mixed critical reception has resulted in the film being digested by the Twittersphere early.
Early reviews have been unusually negative for a Marvel movie, with the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score plunging since the release of the embargo, to the point where Eternals will open with a mere 60%, the lowest score of any Marvel movie, ever - even Thor: The Dark World scored higher.
It’s sizing up to be a potential misfire for Marvel, as the studio hyped the film up as an important piece of worldbuilding, a sizable piece of the MCU’s ever-expanding puzzle. Are we going to need to watch Eternals to understand the upcoming slate of Marvel films and television shows?
Meh, probably not. Marvel movies are designed to be accessible to kids, newcomers, and noncommittal fans - you don’t need to know the exact storyline of these movies to enjoy the next world-ending threat. Most of the lore amounts to easter eggs, an occasional in-joke, and planting seeds for future hype cycles.
Ironically, the most dense, lore-heavy Marvel movies (such as The Dark World and Age of Ultron) have been the most forgettable, despite proving foundational for future plotlines, repeatedly referenced throughout the MCU; perhaps being dull and overstuffed is the price of establishing canon.
Eternals has been tasked with introducing not just new concepts, but many, many new characters, with no less than twelve Eternals appearing in this film, not counting their mortal friends and spouses (although, it's unclear how many are going to be important, recurring characters).
It doesn’t help that the Eternal’s names sound like a Wookieepedia list of scrapped Star Wars sidekicks (Kingo, Druig, Makkari, Sprite). The marketing hasn’t been as sharp as Guardians of the Galaxy, which successfully sold a handful of extremely obscure characters by emphasizing their personalities, as well as the fun, irreverent tone of the film.
Eternals trailers and posters feature the (admittedly impressive) cast standing around empty beaches, staring vacantly into the distance like the perpetually confused protagonists of Lost. Frankly, it doesn’t look like much fun, far removed from the zany, colorful world seen in Thor: Ragnarok, WandaVision and Loki.
Multiple comparisons to DC films have been made by critics, which might be the most devastating blow to the Eternals hype train yet; will Chloe Zhao’s film really resemble one of Zack Snyder’s stylish, sincere, and utterly lifeless stories?
Nonetheless, I am curious to see for myself if Eternals really is a rare misfire, and what it looks like when Marvel attempts some dense worldbuilding (it’s hard to imagine a more deadly box office rival in that department than Dune).
Not that it really matters if Eternals does prove to be a dud; Marvel just successfully introduced Shang-Chi, a deeply obscure character whose introduction proved unexpectedly delightful, while Spider-Man and Doctor Strange sequels are around the corner, ready to utilize the multiverse for cameos, fan-service and setting the stage for the next big bad.
If Eternals serves as a boring bridge to the next stage of a more ambitious and exciting MCU, so be it.
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October 31, 2021 at 09:51PM
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Why Is It So Hard To Get Hyped Up For Marvel’s ‘Eternals’? - Forbes
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