X-Men. Daredevil. Captain America. These are Marvel characters I keep up, and read, on a monthly basis. Like a lover of any form of media I can't consume it all. But, when a new film is announced based on a comic book I don't know very well, I at least seek it out to try. Guardians of the Galaxy was a title I knew, but never read. But when Marvel Studios decided to make a film about these obscure characters in Phase 2 of their plans I went and read a few issues; and I loved it! Shang-Chi and Eternals fell into the other category. I knew of the characters, and their basic origins, but when I went to dive into their worlds I was disenchanted by what I read, which in turn didn't get me excited for either of their upcoming films.
I sat down to watch Eternals not really knowing what to expect. I knew the reigning defending Best Director, Chloe Zhao, was the film's director, but to be honest I turned off Nomadland an hour in because I thought it was boring. I also knew that the Critic Score for Eternals was the lowest score ever given to a Marvel Studio film, and hanged just on the other side of "Fresh". As the film progressed I became more and more intrigued with these Gods trying to act human. And after the film was done, my friend and I agreed, this was a better Justice League film than anything we got from Warner Bros.
Eternals is about a group of superpowered beings who land on Earth thousands of years ago. Their escapades are passed down through time to become myths. They live among the humans, and find out their mission on this planet, and their own existence, is not what they thought. Now they must stop the world they love from being destroyed by the birth of a new god. One of them can fly and has heat vision. One is super fast. One is a warrior woman. One is good with technology. They didn't have a fish guy though.
I'll admit the film starts slow with setting up the characters and their origins, and honestly I was finding some of the performances stoic. But as the film progressed so did their relationships, and when the world was in peril you saw what each of them was fighting for. Gemma Chan and James Madden led this ensemble as Sersi and Icarus. Two beings whose love stretches across hundreds of generations. And this I felt was the crutch of the film. Cersi loved the humans, which was represented by her relationship with the other Stark brother, Dane Whitman(more on him later). And as the strongest Eternal(allegedly), Icarus knew what their true purpose was and was willing to carry it out to the end. But like Sersi, who clung to her connection to the humans, it was Icarus's connection to Sersi that did not allow him to stop her from saving the world.
SIDE NOTE: Why was the love scene in the film? I mean I get it, we know they probably bumped uglies, but in a Marvel film we've never seen sex; only insinuated it after or before. I felt like Icarus and Sersi's sunset kiss was good enough to show the audience their feelings for one another. We didn't need 10 seconds of them naked on the dirt from the shoulders up. And since I came to the theater with two 8 year-olds, I felt it was unnecessary.
The rest of the cast did a find job in sharing their characters with us. Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo gave us some comic relief; along with his assistant Karun. We felt the sorrow of Sprite as she longed to look older, and wondered why she was made to look young. Thena sought revenge on the Deviant who killed the person who never gave up on her. And Phastos had a family, and tried to live a good life, to try and make penance for the sins of his past. Each one, I could feel their point of view, even Druig, who I felt like may become the villain of the film after the first hour.
Marvel isn't really known for strong villains, but in this film I felt like it didn't matter. We believe at first the Deviants are the villains; killing the Eternals and stealing their powers. But once the bigger picture is revealed it seems like the Deviants no longer matter, and there are bigger fish to fry. Thena still gets her revenge in the end, and I understood the Deviant's role. They're the Manhunters to the Eternal's Green Lanterns.(look it up). So, the so-called "weak villain" troupe didn't bother me.
As it seems with every MCU film these days, the mid-credit scene sets up the film's possible sequel, while the post-credit scene sets-up what is to come in the greater MCU. In the mid-credit scene Thena and the other voyaging Eternals learn the fate of their comrades courtesy of Pip and Eros. In the comics, Eros is technically an Eternal along with his brother; Thanos. So as much as I hate to admit it, this does give us the possibility of a Thanos resurrection.
Meanwhile, in the post-credit scene, we go back to Dane Whitman("later" is now) who is about to touch a magic sword when a voice behind him warns him of the consequences. It was at this point that the two people next to me turned my way and asked what that was all about. I get that a lot after Marvel post-credit scenes. And although I knew Kit Harrington is becoming the Black Knight, I don't know much about the future Avenger. And as Chloe Zhao confirmed, the voice warning Dane of his actions was Mahershala Ali, who is set to playing Blade the vampire hunter in future MCU plans. So after a little research on the Black Knight I find out that his Marvel origins are based in medieval magic, as his sword, the Ebony Sword, was forged by Merlin and he is a descendant of Sir Percival; a knight of Arthur's Round Table. But the sword is said to corrupt those who wield it, including Dane's uncle. So where does a vampire hunter fall into it? I have no f#$king clue.
Despite what some may say, I found Eternals to be a deeper film than most we have seen out of the MCU, and it's relationships and tipping of the cosmic scales is what I found most entertaining. With most films I can usually see why people don't like them(ask my wife about The Last Jedi). Films are art, and art is all subjective. But with Eternals I don't see what all the bad press is about. This is the first film in years I'm going to try and see again in theaters. And while my intrigue won't be enough for me to give the comics another shot, you can be sure I am gonna find out more about the Black Knight.
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