Marvel has made yet another continuity error in Eternals, getting confused about exactly where it sets in the MCU timeline. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is undoubtedly one of Hollywood's greatest success stories, a shared universe in which everything is connected. This very connectedness means continuity is pretty much baked into every film and TV series, but in truth Marvel has always been a lot less concerned with continuity than some of its viewers.

Sometimes this leads to pretty evident mis-steps, such the infamous "eight years later" in Spider-Man: Homecoming; Marvel initially insisted it could be explained away, but eventually had to admit it was "very incorrect." Other continuity problems are more subtle, usually indicating areas where the studio changed plans. The most famous example of the latter is the Infinity Gauntlet plot hole running through phases 1-3, with Thor revealing Odin possessed the Infinity Gauntlet. Thor: Ragnarok attempted to fix this by revealing Odin's Infinity Gauntlet was a fake, but this conflicts with Avengers: Infinity War, which established Thanos' as the first Infinity Gauntlet - so what was Odin's fake based upon?

Related: When Is Eternals Set In The MCU Timeline? All Eras Explained

Now Marvel has stumbled once again, with Eternals. Trailers have prominently featured dialogue from Ajak in which she describes the heroism of humanity, celebrating the fact that five years ago Thanos erased half the life in the universe - and the people of Earth reversed it with a snap of their fingers. These comments suggest Eternals takes place pretty close to Avengers: Endgame in the timeline, which fits with the idea the energy associated with the Hulk's snap has somehow caused the mysterious event called the Emergence. And yet, for all that's the case, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore has suggested Eternals is set around the same time as Spider-Man: Far From Home - about eight months later, in 2024. It doesn't quite fit, and it's quite possible viewers will ultimately conclude Eternals doesn't quite fit with the timeline in the way Marvel think it does.

Salma Hayek as Ajak on a ranch in Eternals

Avengers: Endgame's timeline has caused real problems for Marvel's Phase 4. Take the example of Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings; the film is placed in the "present day," and neglected to factor in the five-year time jump, leading to some confusion about its place in the timeline. Now it appears Marvel has slipped up once again, apparently believing Spider-Man: Far From Home is closer to Avengers: Endgame than is actually the case.

It's becoming clear Marvel cares a lot less about continuity than the hardcore Marvel fans. As far as Marvel is concerned, the only thing that really matters is that both Eternals and Spider-Man: Far From Home are post-Avengers: Endgame, dealing with the consequences of what happened in that particular blockbuster - Spider-Man dealing with the death of Tony Stark, the Eternals confronting the cosmic aftermath. The precise placement will probably be decided by viewers based on the dialogue in Eternals, and given the evidence of the trailers they're likely to be a little more distanced than Moore suggested.

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