Chloé Zhao’s Eternals arrived last year as one of the most polarizing entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It became the first MCU movie to receive a “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes, with even less critical approval than movies like Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World.
Since it did well at the box office (for the pandemic, anyway) and it features a who’s-who of cosmic Marvel superheroes, Eternals will likely get a sequel at some point in the future. When these characters return, there are some saving graces to keep from the original – and some areas with room for improvement.
Things To Improve
Overlong Runtime
The biggest problem with Eternals is its bloated runtime. Considering it barely scratches the surface of most of its characters and only has three or four major action scenes, 156 minutes is way too long. Critics had a field day with the opportunity to complain about the film’s “eternal” runtime.
Usually, if the MCU skirts around the two-and-a-half-hour mark, it’s because there are a ton of momentous story points to get through: Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, etc. Eternals has an abundance of characters and lore, but not a lot of plot, so the 156-minute runtime is painfully noticeable.
Uneventful Narrative
The first act of Eternals established that a world-ending catastrophe is a week away. Then, the Eternals just sit around for seven days, waiting for the apocalypse to happen.
The bulk of the storytelling is taken up by Eternals catching up with other Eternals. The Deviant threat is explained over and over again. Nobody is asking for mindless Bayhem-style action, but the sequel needs a more eventful plot than the first one.
Dull Tone
Eternals subverts the usual expectations of Marvel movies in arguably the worst way: by sucking all the fun out of a superhero adventure. The movie aims for a cerebral Oscar-caliber tone, but it lands as dull and unengaging.
The next Eternals movie doesn’t need to turn into Guardians of the Galaxy 2.0 all of a sudden, but above all, superhero films need to be fun. Even The Batman, a dark, gruesome, harrowing serial killer thriller, finds plenty of time for classic Caped Crusader action.
Endless Exposition
The Guardian’s two-star review of Eternals complained about the film’s “planet-sized chunks of exposition” and compared it to “a very sophisticated PowerPoint presentation.” Eternals spends so little of its runtime building up its characters because it’s too busy rewriting human history to suit Jack Kirby’s vision.
There’s no time for Kingo to overcome his vanity because this movie has to prove that evolution is a lie to explain the existence of its heroes. Any potential sequel needs to ease up on the exposition. There’s only so much exposition an audience can handle.
Lack Of Character Development
Ensemble superhero movies don’t always lack character development. The five heroes in Guardians of the Galaxy and the six heroes in The Avengers get plenty of time for their own well-rounded arcs. But Eternals doesn’t have five or six heroes; it has a whopping 10 main characters.
There’s hardly any time to define 10 characters’ personalities, let alone give each of them a carefully crafted arc with substantial development and personal growth.
Things To Keep The Same
Gemma Chan’s Sersi Is The Lead
In an overstuffed ensemble, Gemma Chan managed to take the spotlight and anchor the movie as empathetic Eternal Sersi. Chan gave one of the strongest performances in the MCU’s Phase Four to date.
Sersi is the most relatable of the Eternals and Chan plays her as warm and noble and heroic but also nuanced and vulnerable. If the movie gets a sequel, it should keep its focus on her.
Stunning Visuals
While Eternals suffers from a storytelling perspective, it’s an undeniably beautiful movie. Chloé Zhao and cinematographer Ben Davis cooked up some of the MCU’s most stunning visuals yet in Eternals.
A lot of MCU movies suffer from a bland color palette due to an overuse of CGI and greenscreen effects. Zhao and Davis used as many real filming locations as possible to capture natural light. An Eternals sequel should recapture this gorgeous visual style.
Unexpected Twist
What with all the rumors and speculation surrounding the MCU, it’s difficult for Marvel’s filmmakers to pack any real surprise into their twists. But in Eternals, fans were shocked by the twist that Ikaris is the villain.
This twist utilizes the well-worn “evil Superman” trope seen in The Boys, Brightburn, and Invincible. But the movie makes it work because the rug-pull is unexpected and Richard Madden does a fantastic job with his switch from the facade of standard Marvel heroism to the cold-hearted evil it masks. The Eternals sequel needs similarly surprising twists and turns.
Kingo’s Humor
Kumail Nanjiani gave a hilarious performance as Kingo in Eternals. Kingo is vain and self-involved. While all the other Eternals went into hiding, he became a Bollywood star. He’s easily the funniest character in the movie.
Kingo shares a hysterical dynamic with Harish Patel as his human valet, Karun, who follows him around with a camera so he can sell his latest superhero adventure as a reality series. The Eternals sequel should lean even more into Kingo’s comedic antics.
Poignant Themes
Since Marvel often tells stories about superheroes fighting aliens with waves of computer-generated cosmic energy, the MCU’s movies are often accused of lacking thematic depth.
But in Eternals, Zhao sunk her teeth into some deep, moving, philosophical themes, from identity to questioning faith to the debate over whether or not the ends justify the means.