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REVIEW
Eternals (2021)

Eternals is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics race of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Chloé Zhao, who wrote the screenplay with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo. It stars an ensemble cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie. In the film, the Eternals, an immortal alien race, emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.

In April 2018, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced that a film based on the Eternals had begun development, with Ryan and Kaz Firpo hired to write the script in May. Zhao was set to direct the film by late September, and was given significant creative freedom with the film, which resulted in filming on location more than previous MCU films. Zhao re-wrote the screenplay, which Burleigh was later reported to have also contributed to. Principal photography took place from July 2019 to February 2020, at Pinewood Studios as well as on location in London and Oxford, England, and in the Canary Islands.

Eternals premiered in Los Angeles on October 18, 2021, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 5, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.

Plot

SPOILERS

In 5000 BC, ten human-like Eternals from the planet Olympia are equipped with superpowers and sent by the Celestial Arishem to Earth, where they are supposed to fight the invasive Deviants. Over the millennia, they protect humanity from the dangers posed by these creatures, but are not allowed to interfere in the development of the world's population. After the supposedly last Deviants are killed in 1500, there is a break within the group, as opinions differ about their responsibility towards the people. They spend the next five hundred years mostly separated from each other, waiting for Arishem to send them back to their home planet.

In the present day, Sersi and Sprite live together in London. After Sersi was left by her partner Ikaris over five hundred years earlier, she now has a relationship with Dane Whitman, who works at the Natural History Museum. When the trio is attacked by the Deviant Kro one evening, Ikaris appears and chases the monster away. Sersi, Sprite, and Ikaris then decide to reunite all Eternals in order to be prepared for the renewed danger. Only Ajak can no longer join the group as she was previously killed by a Deviant.

As the former leader of the group, Ajak gave Sersi the ability to communicate with Arishem. In a conversation with the Celestial, the latter reveals that the primary mission of the Eternals was not to fight the Deviants, but to prepare Earth for "The Emergence." Arishem explains that for millions of years, the Celestials have been planting their seeds in populated planets so that a new Celestial can be born from them. Since the energy of innumerable individuals is required for this, the Celestials sent the Deviants, to destroy the top predators of the planet and thus ensure the development of life. However, the Deviants evolved and became top predators themselves, which is why the Eternals were sent to fight them. As Arishem explains, Earth has now reached the necessary population so that the Emergence—the birth of the Celestial Tiamut and the resultant destruction of the planet—can take place.

Since the Eternals have learned to love humanity over the millennia, they decide not to obey the will of Arishem and instead prevent the emergence. Through the "Uni-Mind"—a connection between all Eternals created by Phastos that unites their powers—Druig plans to get the necessary power to put Tiamut to sleep by means of mind control. However, not all Eternals are satisfied with the plan: while Kingo leaves the group because he does not want to face Arishem, Ikaris reveals himself as a secret opponent. It was he who had been informed of the emergence by Ajak centuries before and who killed her when she too spoke out against the destruction of Earth. Sprite joins Ikaris' side because of her one-sided love for him.

After Makkari locates the place of emergence at the foot of an active volcano, there is a fight between Ikaris, Sprite, and the Eternals. Kro, who wants revenge on the Eternals and previously killed Gilgamesh, is also present. Together, the group brings Ikaris under control, while Druig knocks Sprite out and Thena defeats Kro. Phastos activates the Uni-Mind, which Ikaris also surprisingly joins after he reconsiders his life on Earth and his relationship with Sersi. Since Druig is too weak from the previous fight to face Tiamut, Sersi, who manipulates substances, takes on the task and turns Tiamut into ice, killing it. Plagued by feelings of guilt, Ikaris then flies towards the sun. Sersi, who still has the Uni-Mind, gives Sprite the ability to age like a human.

The team parts ways, with Thena, Druig and Makkari flying into space on their spaceship Domo to find other Eternals and to win them over to their cause. Sersi, Phastos, Kingo, and Sprite continue making Earth their home. As Dane professes his love for Sersi and is about to reveal a secret about his complicated family history, she along with Phastos and Kingo are teleported into space by Arishem, who are then warned that because they chose to sacrifice a Celestial for the people of the planet, he will spare them if their memories will show that they are worthy to live, and will return for judgement.

In a mid-credits scene, Thena, Makkari and Druig are visited by the Eternal Eros, the brother of Thanos, and his assistant Pip, who offer their help. In a post-credits scene, Whitman opens an old chest inherited from his ancestors that contains the legendary Ebony Blade, while an off-screen voice asks him if he is ready for it.

Cast

Gemma Chan as Sersi

Chan previously portrayed Minn-Erva in the MCU film Captain Marvel (2019).

Richard Madden as Ikaris

Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo

Lia McHugh as Sprite

Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos

He is the first superhero to be depicted as gay in an MCU film.

Lauren Ridloff as Makkari

The character is the first deaf superhero in the MCU.

Barry Keoghan as Druig

Don Lee as Gilgamesh

Harish Patel as Karun

Kit Harington as Dane Whitman

Salma Hayek as Ajak

Angelina Jolie as Thena

Additionally, the Deviant Kro is voiced by Bill Skarsgård, while David Kaye voices the Celestial Arishem the Judge. Haaz Sleiman and Esai Daniel Cross portray Ben and Jack, Phastos' husband and son, respectively;and Zain Al Rafeea portrays a villager who came across the Eternals upon their arrival on Earth. Harry Styles appears in the film's mid-credits scene as Eros / Starfox, the brother of Thanos, along with Patton Oswalt voicing his assistant Pip; Oswalt previously portrayed the Koenig brothers in the Marvel Television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020). Mahershala Ali has an uncredited voice-only cameo role as Eric Brooks / Blade in the post-credits scene, ahead of starring in his own film.

The Verdict:

Right off the bat, I'm going to say that I know that this film isn't going to be for everyone - much like the comics that this film is based off of. Visually and narratively, this film is essentially a love letter and respectable homage to the late Jack Kirby's work of the same name. Given the response from critics from the early/advanced screenings internationally combined with my own personal reception to the comics, I went into this with my expectations VERY low. I didn't expect to be blown away by director Chloe Zhao's vision.

There were a lot of gripes I noticed online about this film that bring up two particular arguments:

The film has arguably the most forgettable villain in the entire MCU to date.
There's far too much exposition to digest.

Argument: "Eternals has arguably the most forgettable villain in the entire history of the MCU to date."

Counterpoint: A lot of critics are missing the point that the Deviants aren't the primary antagonists in this film at all. They are a red herring, thanks to the film's marketing. Arishem the Judge created both the Deviants and the Eternals, ultimately making them both pawns to his plans to use Earth as a breeding ground to give birth to the creation of the newest Celestial, Tiamat. The Deviants were a complete farce in their role as the designated "foes" of the Eternals. If anything, the Eternals themselves were the villains for slaughtering the rest of Kro's kind. He had every right to thirst for revenge. In that regard, I had no qualms about him and Thena facing off one-on-one since they both suffered losses at the hands of the other.

The Deviants nor Arishem the Judge (if you can even call him a villain as we'll get to that later in this review...) are nowhere as forgettable as Aldrich Killian in Ironman 3 or Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, so let's not kid ourselves on that one.

A lot of people are completely missing the point that this isn't a film with a simple good vs. evil dynamic. It's a film with a moral dilemma, leaving the characters with a decision that not only affects everyone living on Earth, but potentially the future of other planets throughout the universe with their actions. By the end of this film, viewers shouldn't be asking themselves about who were the bad guys. Instead, they should be asking themselves whether or not did the Eternals make the right choice when its all said and done. Does Earth deserve to be spared over the billions of lives across the universe that could have benefited from the creation of another Celestial? What will be the consequences of this choice? Did the Eternals merely prolong the inevitable by deciding to turn against their creators?

Argument: "There's far too much exposition to digest, making all of these characters come across as 'boring'."

Counterpoint: See, that's the thing that most casual fans aren't going to know going into this film. Even in the comic book canon among long-time Marvel Comics fans, the Eternals were always "boring" characters, except for the few members to distanced themselves from the others and joined the Avengers or established themselves individually, notably Sersi.

I will agree that this film would have fared better and would have been much more consumer-friendly if they stuck with one or two of the major plot points and split this film up into either two individual films or spread it out episodic as a Disney+ series.

The cast of Eternals with their comic book counterparts.

Characters:

SERSI

An empathetic Eternal with a strong connection to humans and the Earth, who can manipulate inanimate matter. Sersi has been in love with Ikaris for centuries and has a strong connection with Sprite. She poses as a museum curator on Earth while dating Dane Whitman.

Simply put, Sersi is essentially the heart and soul of this film. Her degree of empathy and compassion for humanity and the Earth itself cannot be understated here. It drives the most of the narrative of this film, especially in second (middle) act.

Gemma Chan previously appeared in the MCU as Minn-Erva in 2019's Captain Marvel, but I honestly doubt that anyone would have noticed that was her under all of that makeup. I thought she brought a lot to this role as Sersi - a character that I have been very anxious to see adapted into the MCU (along with Moondragon, but that would be up to James Gunn on the end of the spectrum in terms of what he has in store for the Guardians of the Galaxy...). Gemma Chan's performance as Sersi seems to bring energy to every scene that she's apart of as I want to see more and more of this character. Her desires to do everything in her power to protect humanity and her genuine love for them comes across as real instead of just delivering lines. Where Selma Hayek excels in her "motherly" role for the Eternals, Gemma Chan definitely delivers in her role as the heart of this team. Sersi's love is undying and seemingly never-ending. When she stood face-to-face with Ikaris when he stood against her and the other Eternals while they sought out to stop the birth of Tiamat, you could still see the compassion and love in her heart for him even when it looked like he was about to strike her down.

I found it to be hilarious to me that Madden has been going around in interviews hyping up the MCU's first sex scene between Ikaris and Sersi when it only lasted for about a minute and didn't show any nudity. (Laughs) Madden was acting like there was going to be full penetration or some shit in there. For as much as he comes across as "bored" throughout the film with his acting performance, Chan was able to breathe life into him with their few scenes that they shared together. I'll give her props for pulling that much out of him here as they did have some degree of chemistry together.

I thought Sersi had more obvious chemistry with Kit Harington's Dane Whitman, but that's just me. I'm anxious to see them together in future possible MCU appearance(s) down the road.

IKARIS

Ikaris is depicted as the MCU's "Superman" in a sense as one of the most powerful Eternals who can fly and project cosmic energy beams from his eyes. The Superman comparisons don't stop there as it's heavily implied that Ikaris' actions throughout the history with humankind witnessing his exploits may have inspired the character in their continuity. That's a VERY unique approach in my eyes, yet totally works here. I don't see any issue with them mentioning the character either when the Arrowverse constantly mentions Marvel Comics' characters casually without question, so I don't see any harm from doing the same here.

While it's easy to compare Ikaris to Superman, I saw him as his polar opposite in ways too. Ikaris doesn't have Superman's connection with humanity. He merely "tolerates" them for the Eternals' primary objective/goal. He has scary parallels' to Justice Lords Superman/Ultraman though in terms of how far he's willing to go to complete those goals (namely leaving Ajak to die at the hands of the Deviants when she sought out to resist Arishem's orders), but ultimately, his pivotal weakness is his love for Sersi.

He said it himself at one point of the film, "I have to get closer to them and understand them if I wish to get closer to you." His time living among humanity and learning their ways was an end to a mean - in this case earning Sersi's love and affection.

I found his changes from his comic book counterpart rather refreshing as paints the illusion that he's the same squeaky clean babyface as his comic book counterpart, but later reveals that he's not as "perfect" as we were led to believe. Just like how he and Sersi's affections for another have waned and caused them to drift apart over the centuries, his tolerance for humanity has caused him to become distant as well - mainly due to the fact that he was burdened with Ajak's secret that she was keeping from the rest of the Eternals.

Richard Madden made for a visually appealing take on Ikaris, but I would be lying if I thought his acting was much to write home about. I can definitely agree with a lot of the critics saying that his performance came off as if he was sleepwalking throughout all of his scenes. I found it ironic that Madden stated that he worked to find a way to portray Ikaris in a manner where he would not come across as "bored of everything" when that's EXACTLY how he comes across onscreen. He shines more in the last act as the main antagonist that stood in the way of the Eternals trying to stop the birth of Tiamat. That was a better use of his bored, stoic demeanor to me.

Even Ikaris himself can't deny the Superman comparisons...

KINGO

Kingo can project cosmic energy projectiles from his hands and grew enamored with fame during his time living among humanity. He becomes a popular Bollywood film star to blend in on Earth. Kingo and his manager, Karun, act as a main source of comedic relief for the first two acts of the film, constantly chronicling and filming this "family reunion" of the Eternals for alleged, historical purposes.

My biggest gripe with Kingo's character is that he's completely absent in the final battle without any explanation and returns with the rest of the Eternals after the matter is resolved. I gave him a pass when he explicitly expressed that he had absolutely no desire to fight against the rest of the Eternals while still remaining loyal to Ikaris despite the revelations revealed by Sersi and Ajak of the Celestials' deception. He recognized Ikaris as the Eternals' leader over Sersi and remained loyal to him to the extent of not wanting to have to fight his friends. It was sad that in the one moment where he could have stood in the limelight and acquired genuinely fame and glory for his heroism while protecting the Earth, he was nowhere to be found as he wanted nothing to do with challenging Arishem's will.

I gave him a pass during my initial viewing in the theaters for his neutral stance on this matter, but the more I think about it, it just comes off odd and puzzling that he sits out the final battle completely. I understand that he doesn't want to fight any of his friends and fellow Eternals, but that's one hell of a whack ending for his documentary that he and Karun were filming for the Eternals' reunion.

SPRITE

The "youngest" of the Eternals (in appearance only), Sprite can project life-like illusions and has the physical appearance of a 12-year old child. In reality, she is an "old soul" in a sense that she is wiser beyond her years despite her appearance. Her plight throughout this film is that she simultaneously envies yet despises Sersi's connection to humanity. Sprite feels that her inability to age and mature to an adult hinders any sort of connection nor understanding of humanity. She also has a one-sided infatuation with Ikaris.

Sprite's "love" for Ikaris seems to come out of left field in the third act after Ikaris reveals that he was the one behind Ajak's death. Sprite was so distraught over Ajak's death, but she still follows Ikaris without question to bizarre degree. Many would argue that we all do stupid things while in love, but it just seemed like a questionable choice in terms of decision-making. I won't lie when I say that I could see a tinge of jealousy when it came to Sersi though. Sersi has this deep connection with humanity while simultaneously being the apple of Ikaris' eye after all of these centuries, despite their time apart. Sprite says it herself that she can't relate to humanity due to her own inability to mature and age. I guess that is one reason why she's so attached to Ikaris in a sense. He's wired in his ways and doesn't see any other means to an end other than the mission that they were given by Arishem. Another angle to look at is that she sided with Ikaris since she wanted to see humanity wiped out if she couldn't have what they had.

It amazes me that Lia McHugh is only 13-14 years old depicting this character in this film when she comes off so much more mature than that here. If she's that good of an actress now, then the sky's the limit for her when she comes up in age and experience.

PHASTOS

Phastos serves as the Eternals' intelligent weapons and technology inventor. He wants to help humanity continue to evolve by subtly influencing their advances in technology by introducing his own inventions throughout time. He comes to regret this decision as it merely drives humanity towards more and more conflict throughout history, namely the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Phastos' actions contradicts Ajak's explicit orders to the Eternals not to intervene with human conflicts unless it involves the Deviants, but while most critics saw his actions problematic, I felt that it wasn't in a sense. Phastos thought he was helping humanity for the greater good for they would have the means to protect themselves and have the technological know-how to advance their own medical sciences to extend their own lives longer. It was by no fault of his own that humanity took this knowledge and used it for nefarious purposes.

Despite his noble intentions, it was a lesson learned by Phastos. He distanced himself from involving himself with the advancement of humanity's technology, but still remained connected to their race. He started a family with a human and had a son. This is where its revealed that Phastos is the MCU's first openly gay "superhero" after viewers are introduced to his husband and child.

My only gripe with this reveal is that they could have given us a bit of dialogue/exposition here that explains that while Eternals can reproduce, their offspring will always be human - with VERY few exceptions that I don't need to go into in sake of this review. Fans of the comics will know that information offhand, but it wouldn't have hurt to enlighten the casual viewers of that fact.

In either case, Phastos had a bigger (physical) connection to Earth than Sersi given that his own offspring now resided on this planet that he has called home for several centuries now, Earth.

MAKKARI

Makkari, the first deaf superhero of the MCU, is an Eternal who possesses the power of super-speed. She communicates to the other Eternals and humans via sign language. Much like Ajak and Sprite, Makkari has been gender-swapped in this continuity from male to being depicted as female here in the MCU.

Out of all of the Eternals, she doesn't get much screen time until the third and final act. That being said, she gets the best action sequences out of any of the Eternals in this film when she's fighting against Ikaris. They really made that fight feel like how a fight between Superman and The Flash SHOULD feel and look like visually.

Druig and Makkari have a romantic connection of sorts when the rest of the Eternals returned and reunited upon their spaceship that was hidden away. It was hinted at in one of the flashbacks but made more obvious later in the film if you watch how they interact with each other. They seem to have a bonded for their own knacks for using their powers in mischievous means, despite meaning well in terms of wanting to protect humanity.

I thought it was touching that the Eternals' psychic/telepath and the deaf speedster didn't need words to communicate to be spoken aloud for they could let each other know how they felt for one another. I should note that their relationship is more believable that anything between Ikaris' wooden demeanor and Sersi's lively energy.

DRUIG

Druig is an Eternal who can manipulate the minds of others. Early on, I was convinced that he was going to be the one that turns of the rest of the Eternals before the end of the film, but I was glad to say that I was absolutely wrong about that. He was one of the Eternals who stood faithfully alongside Sersi after Ikaris revealed himself to be Ajak's murderer and not the Deviants.

Much like Phastos, he directly influenced humans to do his bidding and follow his commands with his powers. This came as naturally to him as breathing, despite Ajak instructing the Eternals not to interfere with human conflicts. Druig saw that he was protecting them from themselves by forcing them to be his puppets. He took issue with Ajak's requests in the past, seeing that the Eternals could stop the widespread self-destruction in the humans' own civil wars and conflicts with relative ease. While many could see his usage of his powers to be that of a tyrant or dictator, I could see him as a compassionate and benevolent protector of sorts, merely wishing to protect the weak from themselves. While it's never right to remove one's free will, Druig's motives were in the right place as he sought out to protect humanity - in his own unorthodox manner.

As previously mentioned, Druig and Makkari are fond of one another. I wish there was a little more screen time given to how they bonded over the centuries. You have to be blind to not see the obvious sexual attraction between them. I honestly can't blame them in a sense, especially for being two very powerful individuals who were told to "hold themselves back" in a sense instead of using their abilities to the

(Laughs) I couldn't help but hear Hayden Christiansen/Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars: Episodes II and III when he spoke though. How similar they sound in terms of tone and line delivery is downright scary to me, I swear...

GILGAMESH

Gilgamesh is the strongest Eternal with a deep connection to Thena. Don Lee represents the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the first Korean superhero in his depiction of this character.

When Thena comes down with Mahd Wy'ry, Gilgamesh offers to watch over her as her protector in seclusion and isolation from the rest of humanity - and the other Eternals after she nearly killed them all in her first episode. It's interesting that Gilgamesh and Thena develope a Gann Josin of sorts, much like Sersi and Dane Whitman's comic book counterparts when Sersi came down with Mahd Wy'ry in the comics continuity. Sersi could see that as a template of how her relationship with Dane could be strengthened in light of events in their futures within the MCU.

Much like Makkari, Gilgamesh is one of the last Eternals that are recruited by the others for their impromptu "reunion" following Ajak's murder, so he doesn't get much screentime. What we do know is that his connection is with Thena above all else. Nothing else mattered other than protecting her - outside of the Eternals' mission to protect humanity from the Deviants.

THENA

If it wasn't enough that this film already had Gemma Chan and Salma Hayek among the cast here, they recruited Angelina Jolie to round off the cast of gorgeous ladies among the Eternals.

I wish we got to see more of Thena's history in combat and as an influencer in mythology. I could totally see her being like Zealot in WildC.A.T.s or Wonder Woman/Diana in DC Comics as a timeless, immortal warrior woman who has trained and inspired so many warriors like herself throughout history. Unfortunately, that opportunity took the backseat to Thena's ailment, Mahd Wy'ry.

In the film, Thena suffers from a dementia-like condition called Mahd Wy'ry. I thought the film gave a pretty bare bones explanation for what this illness is as it works for a casual viewer, but I thought the recent article from Screenrant sheds light on this subject much better and points out its significance for the Eternals' fates going forward.

From Screenrant:

Speaking at a set visit in January 2020, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore revealed the secrets of every member of the Eternals. He spoke at particular length about Angelina Jolie's Thena, who Marvel considers the best warrior in the galaxy, and who possesses the ability to use cosmic energy to create any weapon she can imagine. Unfortunately, as powerful as Thena may be, she also suffers from what Marvel compares to a form of dementia. "She comes down with something called Mahd Wy’ry," Moore explained. "If you guys are fans of comics Mahd Wy’ry is something that can beset an Eternal. It's a version of dementia. Because of the amount of memories they have, they become unstuck in their own mind, so she starts to forget exactly when she is, so through the course of the movie, Gilgamesh becomes her protector. And when we find them in the modern-day, they're living off the grid in a cabin in Australia because she's too dangerous to have around humans."

As Moore suggests, Mahd Wy'ry is indeed a part of Eternals lore in the comics. It was first mentioned in Avengers #361 when Sersi, the only Eternal ever to join the Avengers, began acting unpredictably; she even launched an insane attack upon her teammates, forcing them to sedate her. The Eternals eventually arrived, and explained they believed Sersi was suffering from Mahd Wy'ry, "the secret curse of the Eternals." In the comics, although the Eternals had their bodies transformed, their minds remained all too human. "How much experience could a being absorb," Ikaris asked. "How much living before the weight of years proved too much and crushed the soul? How long before the mind wearies of living and can do it no more?" While the origin of the Eternals has changed for the MCU, they were still created by the Celestials, and presumably share the flaw of Mahd Wy'ry.

In the comics, the only cure for an Eternal suffering from Mahd Wy'ry is molecular discorporation - to kill them so the Eternal Machine begins their life again. There's currently been no indication the Eternal Machine exists in the MCU, meaning these Eternals may not be capable of death and resurrection; if that is indeed the case, then Thena's condition is essentially incurable. She will grow increasingly dislocated in time, unable to differentiate between friend and foe.

An Eternal can manage their decline, however, by establishing a psychic link with a person who serves as their Gann Josin - their sworn protector and soulmate. In the comics, Ikaris created such a bond between Sersi and the Black Knight - albeit without Dane Whitman really understanding what it meant. But more traditionally, an Eternal bonds with another of their own kind, and it sounds as though Thena and Gilgamesh may well have established just such a bond. No doubt Gilgamesh will find it difficult to keep the greatest warrior in the galaxy in check, let alone help her return to action when the Eternals step out of the shadows once again.

It's revealed about halfway into the film that Thena's Mahd Wy'ry isn't a fully an illness but a sort of a warning. Thena's old memories are coming to surface in a desperate plea from her damaged psyche to warn the Eternals of the pending doom that they are about to bring upon this planet. I found that to be an interesting twist, given the nature of the illness in the comics continuity.

By the end of the film, it seems that Thena conquers over the illness in a sense to defeat Kro and avenge Gilgamesh, but the question is still up in the air on whether or not she's going to succumb to it again. I was shocked to see Phastos allow her to be around his son and the other Eternals hanging around her without question. Maybe Gilgamesh's dying gift was able to remind her of her sense of self to conquer the greatest foe of all - one's own mind. If Thena has truly conquered the illness then she's definitely lived up to her namesake.

I should go on record and say that I absolutely loved the concept of her powers and how it was executed visually.

DANE WHITMAN

We don't see much from Dane Whitman outside of the opening act, where we find Sersi living in modern times, acting as museum curator. Dane and Sersi have become enamored with each other, much to the annoyance of Sprite. I thought Kit Harrington did fine with the little that he was given here. His performance and onscreen chemistry with Gemma Chan's Sersi sold me onto seeing more of him in this role as this character. He had more life about him than Richard Madden did. That's for damn sure.

When the crisis is averted (for now) after Sersi and the Eternals have stopped the birth of Tiamat, Dane was about to enlighten to Sersi to his own family history, she's plucked away from Earth by Arishem the Judge himself. In a post-credits scene, Dane is about to take up the fabled Ebony Blade when he's asked if he's ready to use that by Blade the Vampire Hunter, off-screen. For those who don't know, Dane Whitman is one of several men to wield the Ebony Blade as the villain turned hero, Black Knight, in Marvel Comics.

As previously mentioned in the quote that's shared in Thena's section (to the left) states, Dane Whitman and Sersi have a lot of history together in the comics continuity. Dane becomes Sersi's Gann Josin when she comes down with Mahd Wy'ry in the comics. This unique bond between them grants him special powers via special psychic link between a sworn protector and their soulmate.

The Ebony Blade being introduced into the MCU has some potential for a few great stories too. It's been recently tied to the King in Black himself, Knull, who created the symbiotes in the Marvel Comics universe. That would be an easy way to tie Venom into the MCU's mythos if both Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures were looking for a common thread/connection for their two universes outside of the obvious one with Spider-Man. The weapon even has a bit of history within a few Black Panther-related stories as well, so there's a few fun concepts that Marvel Studios can toy around with in association with it. They don't necessarily have to rush straight into transforming Dane Whitman into the Black Knight right away.

If I were to speculate right now, I think Dane Whitman is going to "train" with Blade the Vampire Hunter, who recognizes the potential danger of that weapon and wants to ensure that it's in the right hands before he leaves Dane Whitman off to his own devices with it. I could easily see someone like Dracula himself stealing it in his upcoming film/Disney+ show and having retrieving it being a part of the core conflict/dynamic in that film/TV series.

In either case, I don't doubt for an instant that we're going to see Dane Whitman and this "legendary" weapon from Marvel Comics lore show up more in the near-future.

AJAK

For the sake of this film, the Eternal Ajak has been gender-swapped from being depicted as a male in the comics to being female in this film, portrayed by Salma Hayek.

The wise and spiritual leader of the Eternals, who has the ability to heal and is the "bridge" between the Eternals and the Celestials. Ajak acts as the "mother figure" of the Eternals.

The main reason that the Eternals are called to reunite is after the discovery of her death at the hands of the Deviants following one targeting and attacking Sersi and Sprite in London. Ajak's role in the other Eternals' lives is revealed throughout the film via flashbacks across history. It should also be noted that Ajak bestowed Sersi with the ability to communicate with Arishem with the golden orb that was housed within her body. This ability designates Sersi to be the group's new leader over Ikaris, which doesn't sit well with the others. Ajak chose Sersi due to her connection and compassion for humanity, despite confessing her plans to disobey Arishem's orders to sacrifice humanity and the planet as a whole for the birth of the new Celestial, Tiamat, to Ikaris. Her choice left Ikaris conflicted for the centuries that followed, causing him to be split between his loyalty to Arishem while simultaneously wanting to identify and connect with the humans and the planet they live on that Sersi, the woman he loves, holds so dearly.

The most interesting thing to me in hindsight is that Salma Hayek has stated in interviews that she's signed on for four films within the MCU. That makes me think that the Celestials will revive her with the "Machine" from the comics that allows the Celestials to resurrect the Eternals after death. Arishem revealed to Sersi that their memories are being stored within their home planet, so it would be easy for them to reconstruct their physical synthezoid (think like Vision) bodies and merely download those memories into that new form as if nothing happened. This would be a tad problematic in Ajak's case as she could be resurrected without her memories (or better yet her plans for rebelling against Arishem) on Earth and merely be another puppet under the Celestials' control again as a blank slate, willing to follow their orders without question as if nothing happened to change her mind to think otherwise.

DEVIANT KRO

Voiced by Bill Skarsgard, the Deviant Kro is the main antagonist of sorts for this film - at least that is the assumption going by the film's marketing and previews going in. That turns out to be a red herring of sorts when Arishem casually reveals to Sersi that the Deviants were a "failed" experiment/creation of his own design, much like the Eternals themselves.

Kro's motivations and journey in the narrative didn't make much sense. After killing and absorbing the memories and powers of both Ajak and Gilgamesh, one would think that he would understand that the Deviants were just as much pawns/tools that have been lied to and exploited by the Celestials. Instead, he continues on this quest to kill the Eternals instead of working with/aligning himself with them. I could understand that in one aspect that he wanted to avenge the countless slain members of his race at the hands of the Eternals, but at the same time, it would be more beneficial to him to aid Sersi and the Eternals to stop the birth of Tiamat. It came off really odd in the third act that he would side with Ikaris against the rest of the Eternals, especially when Ikaris himself slain so many of his own kin without remorse, even after knowing the truth of their mission. Then again, one could point to Kro aiding Ikaris as "repayment" as Kro would not have gained sentience if Ikaris didn't literally hand him Ajak, along with all of her powers and knowledge, on a silver platter to him.

I'm not even going to pretend to act like I'm familiar with Kro's comic book history when I'm not in the slightest. While skimming through his comic book history online though, I did find it interesting that he had a long-standing (100,000 years) on-off relationship with Thena. They even had children together. I can't help but wonder why the MCU choose not to integrate any of that into their histories in this continuity. It would have made for some interesting dialogue between Thena and Kro during their battle. Then again, that fight was muddled enough as is between her fighting against the effects of Mahd Wy'ry and potentially succumbing to Kro's charms using Gilgamesh's voice. Sucks that the Deviants were wiped out without any sort of comeuppance to their creators. Arishem cast them out like yesterday's garbage like a failed experiment while the Eternals were assigned on clean-up duty when it went awry.

While I didn't think the Deviants were "boring" or easily forgettable, I thought they were another contributor to the MCU's ongoing trope of wasted potential when it comes to their villains, whether it be in their various television shows and films with obvious exceptions in regard to Thanos (Infinity Saga), Kingpin (Daredevil), Kilgrave (Jessica Jones), Eric Killmonger (Black Panther), and Loki (Thor).

Besides, the people who are complaining about the Deviants in this film are completely missing the point of this film in the first goddamn place. It's a not a simple morality choice in terms of good versus evil. This film has much bigger stakes at play instead of being that black and white in terms of the clichéd dynamic.

ARISHEM THE JUDGE

Voiced by David Kaye, Arishem the Judge is the Prime Celestial, who is credited for creating the first Sun and bringing light to the universe. Millions of years ago, Arishem created the Deviants in order to aid in Celestial births, but when his creations went rogue, the Judge created the race of Eternals using the World Forge, in order to combat the Deviants who were interfering in his work. One such world Arishem sent his Eternals to was Earth, in order to ensure the birth of Tiamat. Arishem communicated directly with Ajak on Earth, but after her death, he instead made contact with Sersi, informing her of the Eternals true purpose and to ensure the emergence takes place. However, the group grew attached to Earth and worked to stop the emergence. After they prevented the emergence, Arishem pulled Sersi, Kingo and Phastos into space in order to study their memories and to judge if humanity was worth preserving.

Arishem in a sense is Eternals' "true" antagonist if you want to be black and white about it, seconded only to Ikaris and Kro. He is the Celestial that set all of these events into motion, namely to ensure Tiamst's birth. Even everything that's revealed over the course of this film, I honestly can't really call him a villain in a sense. His motives were never malicious nor "evil" in terms of his agenda. This neutral stance sees the destruction of planets to nurse new Celestials into existence. Arishem's actions creates the "real" conflict of this film: the Eternals learning that they must abandon the mission that Arishem trusted them with and stop the birth of Tiamat, a new Celestial, which would destroy the entire planet upon his emergence from within the Earth's core.

As a Celestial, the limits and scope of Arishem's powers are immeasurable. There's not going to be a simple Avengers team-up like Endgame or Infinity War that will simply wipe the slate clean after a mere fist fight. No, that's not happening. We're essentially in the big leagues in terms of scope in the MCU to enlighten audiences while that the Infinity Stones were powerful in the Infinity Saga, there's other powers at play that exist in this universe that are just as powerful, if not infinitely more powerful in a sense.

Even though I have been annoyed with how the MCU has gone out of its way to trivialize the Stones post-Endgame, whether in their Disney+ series or in the films that followed, but the more that I think about it, they HAVE to at this point, especially now that we're on the verge of fully exploring and fleshing out the cosmic entities of the Marvel Universe that oversee and manipulate events from behind the scenes.

Blade the Vampire Hunter

The voice that speaks to Dane Whitman in the post-credits teaser is none other than Blade the Vampire Hunter. That's all we really need to know about this character at the moment. For those that aren't aware, he's set to get his own film in the near future as part of the MCU, starring Mahershala Ali as the titular hero.

Pip the Troll

Voiced by Patton Oswalt, Pip makes his debut during the mid-credits teaser to formally introduce Eros to Makkari, Thena, and Druig after teleporting (with effects similar to Asgard's Biforst) onto their ship, the Domo.

I fondly remember Pip from his appearances in the Silver Surfer animated series as his companion throughout his journeys throughout the cosmos. I'm anxious to see what they do with this character in the MCU, especially if this means that we are getting closer to introducing the Silver Surfer and Galactus at some point.

Eros / Starfox

The brother of Thanos and fellow Eternal, Eros, is portrayed by musician Harry Styles in the mid-credits teaser in a scene that was spoiled by many weeks ahead of its stateside release in theaters. Eros offers to help the space-bound Eternals with a rescue mission to save their friends (Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo) who were abducted by Arishem for judgement.

I have to wonder how the MCU will handle the more controversial issues with this character though. Then again, they dodged the bullet there with how they changed Hank Pym in this continuity where as his comic book history of being an abusive husband is never brought up, so who knows.

Sersi, Druig, and Makkari attempting an Uni-Mind during the final battle.

The Eternals' formal arrival on Earth.

Closing Thoughts:

One thing I didn't touch on in the section above discussing the cast of characters in this film is the Uni-Mind. In the comics continuity, the Uni-Mind was the almagation of all of the Eternals' will and intelligence into a single powerful entity. In this film, it's not a single form that's summoned "Captain Planet" style by all of the Eternals, but essentially a vast power-up for one individual Eternal's cosmic powers - magnifying them thousand fold. This was how Sersi was able to transmute Tiamut into ice and kill him instantly before he could fully emerge from within the Earth's crust. Phastos gives a hastily explanation that the bands (which were made from the golden orb that Ajak left behind that allowed her communicate directly with Arishem) that each of the "rebelling" Eternals are wearing will allow them to perform the Uni-Mind, but during the final moments of the battle it was shown that Sprite and Ikaris were brought into the Uni-Mind as well without wearing them, so it's rather confusing how this works. Did they willingly lend Sersi a hand or was the increase in power so compelling that it automatically forces the other Eternals in its vicinity to contribute their cosmic power to it as well? For the Uni-Mind to play such a pivotal part to the final battle, it was a massive misstep to gloss over the intricacies of how it works. Like I said before in this review, I gave this film a lot of passes in some regards as I have prior comic book knowledge on some of this stuff, so it's not completely over my head, but I can understand if other casual viewers and non-comic book readers aren't so forgiving in that regard. The biggest takeaway from the Uni-Mind ability I gathered was that it's a massive, temporary power-up for one Eternal in particular, in this case, being Sersi.

Sersi's "gift" from her the Uni-Mind gave her the ultimate copout for Sprite's plight too in the finale of this film. Sersi was able to make Sprite human and able to experience life like all other humans do. I was wondering if that means if she would still retain her powers as an Eternal or not. It's not like her ability to cast illusions was insanely powerful, so there wouldn't be much harm if she were able to retain that ability in some capacity. Since Sprite chose to be human, does this mean that she is destined to suffer their fate(s) too if Arishem judges the planet and humanity to be destroyed? One would think so when she was spared by him in terms of being snatched away from the surface of the planet with Phastos, Kingo, and Sersi at the end of the film. Here's the million dollar question though: could a Uni-Mind connecting all of the estranged Eternals from across the cosmos defeat a fully grown Celestial at the apex of his powers and dominance? That's going to be the question on a lot of people's minds when the Eternals find themselves at odds with Arishem the Judge and possibly the other Celestials in the future. Marvel Studios should consider themselves lucky as they have a lot of time to plan that out as this is a story that they don't necessarily have to continue nor revisit right away. It's like a sidebar that fans can keep in the back of their minds while everything else is going on.

One last argument that needs to be addressed too before I close out this review...

"Thanos was right! He was trying to save the universe from the birth of more Celestials causing the destruction of other planets! Since he's an Eternal, he was aware of Arishem's plans!"

Despite the fact that Thanos' motivations have been skewed towards population control, much like Lord Genome in the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to prevent the arrival of the Anti-Spirals to destroy all life that is dependent on Spiral energy. Lord Genome's "evil" actions were seen as "noble" as he was doing what he thought was right for the benefit of all who lived on Earth. Thanos, no matter what as depicted by his actions in the Infinity Saga, is evil. There's nothing noble about what he's doing. He's delusional towards his goal of "balance" throughout the universe that he is obsessed by it and willing to destroy anyone and anything that stands in his way. Let's not forget that the Celestials are aware of the Infinity Stones and don't fear them in the slightest. Otherwise, they would have intervened when Thanos acquired all six of the Infinity Stones and dealt with him personally. Thanos' plans merely delayed what was going to be inevitable. The Snap wiped half of the ENTIRE universe's population - not just Earth's. And there's no exact figure on how many people were affected by that action - at least not a precise one of reference by the MCU to this point that's common knowledge. Arishem had already waited centuries for the Eternals to ensure that humanity's population growth would accumulate to a point where it would provide enough subsistence to fuel Tiamut's birth, so what's a few more? In that regard, Thanos' plan was pointless and a temporary fix to a larger problem - something that he criticized himself when it came to spreading out the universe's resources for the ever-growing population - if he was trying to protect the universe from the Celestials, if you want to believe that theory.

In the comics continuity, Thanos was born as half-Eternal and half-Deviant. There's no clue if the MCU is going to go this route, especially after introducing Eros/Starfox and immediately informing audiences to the fact that Thanos' brother is an Eternal. For me personally, I can't see Thanos being solely an Eternal in this continuity. It doesn't work for a lot of reasons with the reasons that I mentioned above being the tip of the iceberg. Thanos is a genocidal tyrant who has convinced himself on the notion of slaughtering billions at random is fair and noble and would "save" the universe from his own delusional perspective. He is nothing more, nothing less in this continuity. Let's stop trying to paint him more than what he is here. Thanos' MCU counterpart lacks the depth that creator Jim Starlin painted onto his comic book counterpart and let's stop kidding ourselves that this film is trying to paint him into a gray/noble light. Thanos was the principle villain (and arguably the greatest villain that the MCU has seen to date) of the Infinity Saga and let's just leave it at that.

I will add this much though... The whole concept of Arishem's plans and Celestials being born from the destruction of planets that have reached a particular set amount of inhabitants on said planet(s) makes room for another cosmic being in the MCU - namely Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. With the Fantastic Four and those associated characters back under Disney/Marvel's banner, then that's definitely on the table of fair game at this point. Plus, think about this... Galactus exists to balance out the number of Celestials in the universe as he feeds on the energy within planets that gives life to new Celestials. Galactus' existence and arrival would be an easy way to introduce the Fantastic Four into this continuity.

I'm going to end this review with one more final thought. Eternals is a film that introduces a lot of new fresh ideas and concepts to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, knowing full well that this is subject manner that wasn't ever welcomed with opened arms to even hardcore Marvel Comics fans. It's a massive risk, much like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the Guardians of the Galaxy films before it, but it just proves that Marvel Studios is an established enough brand to experiment at this stage of the MCU's lifespan. This film is far from perfect, but it should be praised for its boldness for how far and how deep it digs into Marvel Comics' mythos. For what it was worth, this film did a lot of lore building and planting the seeds for the future, whether fans liked this film or not.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Without a shadow of a doubt, Eternals is the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most divisive film to date among casual viewers and critics. I personally think that a lot of that divisiveness stems from the fact that audiences are still grading these films on the scale of the heights we reached from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Whether we like it or not, the MCU is in a rebuilding phase of sorts here in Phase Four. A lot of the pillars that laid the foundation for the first ten years are gone and off the table while the MCU has to introduce new characters and take chances exploring other untapped resources in their rich, comic book history. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy several years ago, Eternals is a massive gamble to invest into with a much smaller fan base and overall awareness from even the most hardcore of Marvel Comics' fans. While I enjoyed this film, I'm not going to gloss over the fact that there's some problematic areas in its narrative, namely with some of the characters' motivations and their alignments by the time its all said and done, but the entire scope of this tale brings some bigger ramifications for the future of the MCU going forward that I'm anxious to see play out in the next few years.

For what it was worth, I thought director Chloe Zhao did a decent job bringing these characters to life, from their castings to their individual personalities and finally bringing their individual abilities to life to make them each stand out visually on their own. I think a lot of critics got far too caught up into either comparing Chloe Zhao's prior works to this film or measuring this film to 'tried and true' MCU formula that we have come know up to this point where it blinded them from truly giving this film a genuine chance that it deserved. With that being said, I'm going to humbly encourage my readers to watch this film and garner their own opinions on it.

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REVIEWEternals (2021)