Contrary to the epic team-up of The Avengers, the upcoming Eternals should disassemble its main characters. Phase 4 will introduce several new heroes, starting with the Eternals, an ancient race of alien deities who influenced the evolution of humans eons ago. Most of them have been inactive for thousands of years, with only Thanos as a notorious exemplar of their race since their disappearance. After the Mad Titan's defeat, the return of the evil Deviants will force them to resurface.

The MCU has thrived mainly due to its sense of interconnectivity, which was first fully evidenced in 2012 when Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye teamed up to fight Loki in The Avengers. Since then, superhero team-ups have become a commonplace occurrence and a major selling point of superhero movies. Nowadays, the MCU remains the trendsetter when it comes to this genre, and Phase 4 aims to shake up the landscape once again. Besides the infinite opportunities the multiverse may bring, a change in the formula of ensemble movies would also help Marvel keep its cinematic universe fresh.

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The upcoming Phases of the MCU are already too crowded for the Eternals to behave like the Avengers. Phase 4 will introduce several MCU teams such as the Young Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the Thunderbolts on top of the already established Guardians of the Galaxy and the remaining members of the Avengers. This wouldn't be an obstacle for standalone Eternals movies, but the problem comes when they begin crossing over with other MCU teams. The Eternals would take up a considerable chunk of an ensemble movie's screentime compared to individual characters or smaller teams. Hence, they should part ways during their introductory movie, given that their backstory already allows for a great potential conflict to make their disbandment interesting.

Avengers Infinity War cast

A split-up would also make for a compelling tragedy. Perhaps killing one or more of the Eternals would emphasize how the universe has become so dangerous that such powerful entities can't keep up with it anymore, as well as the immense power of the culprit (and set them up as a future big bad). The MCU could introduce the Eternals as practically invincible, only to reveal that not even they can compare to the looming threat of the MCU's next Thanos. In this case, it would be evident why characters with more complex abilities such as Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange are so essential in the future.

Disassembling the Eternals would flip the MCU's narrative on its head. It would show that The Avengers' first successful team-up was a miracle rather than the norm, and would make the original Avengers more praiseworthy for achieving it. Additionally, it would help each of the Eternals branch off and develop their own story, preparing them for future crossovers. James Gunn's The Suicide Squad aims to make every member of Task Force X truly vulnerable. Marvel could improve on this formula in Eternals by doing it with the MCU's nigh-omnipotent deities.

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