Set eight months after the world is restored by the Avengers in an exhilarating battle against one of the most powerful beings in the universe, the Marvel franchise introduces the Eternals: a race of immortal beings with superhuman powers who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years, and they ruinite to battle the evil Deviants. 

Directed by Chloé Zhao, “Eternals” continues phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). However, it seems to be quite different from the typical Marvel movie. Diving into darker and more mature themes, Zhao was able to deliver an emotional and complex story. Expressing themes of love, destiny, morality, and purpose, the movie goes in depth with the complexities of human nature and beauty of life through the eyes of gods. Even though it is straying away from the generic superhero movie genre, “Eternals” presents the same Marvel magic seen in other movies with its humor, action, and stellar visuals. 

With such a large cast, “Eternals” was able to pave the way for many new characters and representation not before seen in the MCU. Marvel was able to hit many new milestones in this production, being their first feature directed by an Oscar winner and a woman of color. It’s also the first feature film for the studio with title superheroes who are South Asian, Latina, deaf and LGBTQ. Makkari, played by Lauren Ridloff (who is also deaf), is Marvel’s first deaf superhero. She has superhuman speed, strength, and reflexes. However, changes were made to the versions in the comics as the original Makkari is male, white and can hear. Even though there were many different characters, Zhao was able to shine on the character’s developments and themselves individually. The actors were all very talented and expressed their characters in their own styles, some being very easy to love, and some the complete opposite. To add, each Eternal is a part of mythology or folklore represented with their names. For example, some names are Thena (Angelina Jolie) after greek goddess Athena, and Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) after greek god Hephaestus. 

Although there were many exciting parts, a movie that is around two and a half hours long needs something to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, this movie could have done better with that, as a considerable proportion was filled with exposition. There were many things and people being introduced which did need explanation, but it made the movie slow and somewhat uneventful until the middle parts. As one of the longest Marvel movies out, it lacked a captivating storyline for more than half of the movie. I really wanted to love this movie, but I left the theaters a bit dissatisfied. As a Marvel fan, I think my own bias made me like the film more than I actually might have. 

However, not only does this movie open the way for the future of Marvel movies, but it is also perfect for someone who hasn’t seen the other movies. There are some references to prior movies, but nothing that would make the rest of the story harder to understand. There’s only one tip I have for those watching this movie or any other Marvel movies: Stay for the post credit scenes! (This movie has 2, which display what events we might see in future movies)

All in all, I found this movie to be somewhat hard to love, but visually appealing, and I am excited to see what happens next with the Eternals.