MCU. It got a bunch of mixed reviews when it was released, and there has been some controversy as to how it stands up to other Marvel movies, but it may be the fresh start everyone needed to the MCU.
With a new line-up of powerful heroes, new villains, and a much more inclusive cast, Eternals provides fans with an array of reasons to be enthralled by this new addition to the MCU. In what ways did the movie improve and evolve the franchise as a whole?
Who Will Be The New Avenger's Leader
With many of the original Avengers gone, there is a new team starting to be set up, and they are going to need a leader. The Eternals are the newest additions to the MCU, and they are just the tip of the iceberg of some of the new superheroes that fans will see added to the movie franchise.
With other superhero teams like the MCU, and Ikaris even makes a comment that he could be the leader, but that quickly gets thrown out the door after he flies himself into the sun at the end of the movie. So the question still remains.
Diversity & Inclusion
With Ajax, and then Sersi, being the leaders of the Eternals, fans can only hope that a woman will step up and become the new leader of whatever group emerges from the new heroes coming together in the MCU.
It should be noted that Sprite, Ajax, and Makkari were all men in the comics. So not only are fans seeing more prominent female characters in the franchise, but a handful of Marvel's most recent projects have included more characters of color, characters with disabilities, and characters of different sexualities. These characters are further breaking the mold of previous Marvel projects and comic book movies in general.
Not Your Typical Avengers Movie
It's not uncommon to see a big problem arise, only for a member of the Avengers, or the whole team to come together, make a big mess, mostly take care of the problem, and then go home. A love story is sometimes included. With Eternals, fans got a whole new take on the typical MCU movie.
Since the team only battles Deviants, it takes out the whole human battle aspect that all the other Avengers movies have. The lack of guns, as well as the addition of their powers being the main form of their fighting abilities, makes them stand out as well. On top of that, the prominent gold color, which is used to not only showcase their powers but also in their uniforms, makes them unique to other Marvel movies.
Covering The Moral Gray Area
One of the big things that Eternals covers that isn't covered much in any other MCU movie is the moral gray areas. The only movie that lightly touches on it is Captain America: Civil War when the team divides over the Sokovia Accords. When the Eternals found out their true purpose, it divided the team. Some of them saw it as their sole purpose to serve Arishem, while others were aghast that they were supposed to be okay with watching the human population get killed off.
Kingo seems to be the only character that sees the truth as well as the damage of each side of the situation. He refuses to help stop Arishem, but he also refuses to fight against his family. Some fans argue that this was weak of him to not pick a team, but if anything, it showed his human side making him more relatable to everyone.
Emphasizes Groups Not Always Seeing Eye To Eye
The Eternals is a group of ten, so of course, there are times when they don't see eye to eye. With the Avengers, someone usually had to get over it, and things turn out okay. In Eternals, the consequences of not seeing eye to eye are much more detrimental.
Ikaris ends up killing Ajax when he finds out she might turn against Arishem, and then turns against his whole team, including, Sersi. The disagreement started much earlier for this group though, back when Ajax established the fact that the team wasn't allowed to interfere with human affairs when Druig tried to prevent a fight, and things escalated when Thena got Mahd Wy'ry.
New Heroes With Superpowers
The Eternals come onto the screen with a strong and powerful entrance that viewers will not soon forget. One at a time, the audience gets to see what each of their powers is, and they were not let down. Individually, most of their powers are pretty common as far as super-powers go, but it's when they battle side by side that their strengths really get to be seen as some of the best powers in the MCU.
Each member has their own unique set of abilities, some of which help them thrive in battle, while others seem to have talents that help them the team with new ideas or their healing abilities. Regardless, each Eternal is important to the team as they clearly thrive when they battle together.
New Aliens & Villians
In Eternals, it was exciting to see a whole new breed of villains and aliens. For starters, the Deviants were a very unique kind of creature to introduce and proved to be a worthy opponent of the Eternals. Their ability to leech life from other creatures and absorb their unique abilities is what made them a truly strong and outstanding new villain in the MCU.
Arishem himself, also known as Arishem the Judge, is one of the MCU. Although it may not be the first time that fans have seen a Celestial in the MCU, it was a great introduction to how much more of an appearance they are going to have in the Marvel timeline going forward.
Entering More Into The Multiverse
At the end of the movie, Druig, Makkari, and Thena take the Domo in hopes to find other Eternals and inform them of their true purpose. This concept begins entering the multiverse a bit, as the team will eventually have to find other versions of themselves and potentially prevent billions of other lifeforms from being born while simultaneously preventing billions of lifeforms from dying.
If they do achieve this, there is no way it won't interrupt the multiverse, which means that there is a good chance that they will be sharing some screen time with Dr. Strange and Wanda in the future.
Defining The Line Of How Heroes Decide When To Get Involved
Multiple times throughout the movie the fact that the Eternals aren't allowed to interfere with human affairs is discussed, and the only time they can get involved is to protect the people from Deviants.
It's even asked why the Eternals didn't get involved with Thanos, and it's Druig who is the biggest challenger of this. Ajax, and even Makkari, remind him constantly not to meddle with it. In the beginning, Sersi even uses her powers to turn a piece on the wall into dust right before it falls and crushes a student. How and when they use their powers really seems to be up in the air, but they seem to use their abilities when it's needed the most.
Heros Among The People
In more ways than one, the Eternals are the true heroes among the people. They lived among humanity for thousands of years, protecting them, helping them grow and develop, until one day, they decided to go into hiding.
In the movie, it is unclear what all of them did during their hiatus, but it's obvious that most of them just blended in with the people. Going from being heavily involved to not being involved at all was a big transition, and it makes them revealing their true forms an even bigger deal. And on top of everything comes the end of the movie where Sprite decides she wants to give up her powers to be able to grow up and experience all the things that normal adults do, just proving the fact that sometimes being a hero isn't everything it cracks up to be.
