Eternals (2021)

Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Bill Skarsgård, Harry Styles, Patton Oswalt, and Mahershala Ali
Grade: C-

A fun factoid to note, Phastos’s biggest achievement in technology is to connect all the Eternals’ energy to make one of them immensely powerful creating the Uni-Mind, which is the same name as the magical orb on the LGM planet that telepathically connects all of the little aliens in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins.

Maybe Kingo was right. They should have went with “Brainstorm”. Actually, no. That’s too corny.

Summary

In the beginning, before the six Singularities and the dawn of creation, came the Celestials. Arishem, the Prime Celestial, created the first and brought light into the universe. Life began and thrived. All was in balance. Until an unnatural species of predator emerged from deep space to feed on intelligent life – they were known as Deviants. The universe was plunged into chaos. To restore the natural order, Arishem sent Eternals – immortal heroes from the planet Olympia – to eliminate the Deviants. Eternals had unyielding faith in Arishem until one mission, led by the Prime Eternal, Ajak, changed everything.

To begin, monolith-looking starship Domo floats through space near the sun. Inside Domo, all the Eternals sit around a red statue of Arishem in a room, and a golden sphere emerges from it. The sphere floats directly into the upper chest cavity of Ajak (Hayek) and disappears. With this, she announces it’s time. All the Eternals go to their separate corners in the room where their superhero attires appear onto their bodies. Sersi (Chan) and Ikaris (Madden) introduce themselves to each other and look out the window at Earth, their destination. They arrive in Mesopotamia in 5000 BC where a kid in a tribe is about to be attacked by the dragon-like Deviants. They eat his father on the shore. Just as the kid looks to be next, the Eternals show up, save all the people, and take out all the Deviants while suffering little damage. As the Domo appears above them, Ajak, Ikaris, Sersi, Thena (Jolie), Kingo (Nanjiani), Phastos (Henry), Druig (Keoghan), child-like Sprite (McHugh), the strong Gilgamesh (Lee), and the deaf Makkari (Ridloff) all stand tall across from the tribe. Sersi picks up a knife and uses her powers to turn it into a superpowered golden dagger. She hands it to the child.

In present day London, England, we see a billboard advertising for the Natural History Museum entitled “Artifacts that Shaped Human History”. On it is the dagger Sersi handed the child. Dressed in regular street clothes and now a scientist, Sersi takes a picture of it in shock and quickly runs to the university where she teaches. Her boyfriend and regular human Dane Whitman (Harington) lectures the class with poetry until she gets there late for her presentation. Pressing on, she says they will be learning about the importance of apex predators in a balanced ecosystem. Following a playful conversation between Sersi and Dane, a student makes a joke about them seeing each other and the class laughs. Moving on, Sersi goes on about what sets apex predators apart is that there are no other animals in their habitat strong enough to hunt them. Suddenly, there’s an earthquake, so Sersi has all the kids hide under their desks. One statue almost comes off the wall on top of a student, but Sersi discreetly uses her powers to turn the statue into dust before it collapses on the girl. She didn’t notice Sersi using her powers, and Sersi comforts the girl in the aftermath. Elsewhere, a Deviant emerges in nearby waters. At a bar that night, Sersi is dancing with Dane. In the same room, Sprite uses an illusion to appear older while she’s hanging out with some guy. When he touches her hand, it disappears, so she acts like he’s really drunk and gets out of there. Privately, she switches back to her regular self, still looking like a child. Still, it’s Dane’s birthday, and the staff is celebrating with him. Later, Sersi gives him his gift, a ring from the Middle Ages with his family’s crest on it. They start kissing, but Dane uses this opportunity to ask if she wants to move in together yet. Unfortunately, she declines. He figured, asking if she’s a wizard like Doctor Strange because of the number of unusual things that happen when he’s around her. He points out how their water always turns to coffee whenever the waiter ignores them, but she says this is his caffeine addiction talking. He comments how Sprite has mentioned Sersi breaking up with her ex-boyfriend “a century ago” and how he can fly, but Sersi says he was a pilot.

Just then, Sprite shows up and wants to go home because she considers it past her bedtime. After the three leave, Sersi implies she’s in love with Dane, so Sprite tells Sersi she needs to reveal it to Dane. Sersi says she’s working on it, as Dane walks a few steps ahead of them. Sprite points out how Dane won’t live forever and thinks they should move in together, but Sersi says she lives with Sprite. Suddenly, a Deviant emerges and goes to attack them. Sersi turns the pavement into a sand that sinks the Deviant and then hardens it to trap the monster, allowing for her to collect Dane and Sprite to escape. On the way, Dane asks what it was, so Sprite tells him that it’s a Deviant. He thought they killed them all, which makes Sersi realize that Sprite told him a lot about their background. In her defense, Sprite didn’t think Dane would believe her. The Deviant escapes, so Sersi chases after it into the city. She tells Sprite to keep Dane safe, but Sprite thinks he will be fine and goes to help Sersi instead. Dane follows them. Meeting the Deviant on the street, Sprite uses an illusion where it looks like there are multiple copies of her and Sersi surrounding the confused monster. Eventually, it sees through it and attacks Sprite until Ikaris returns and takes it out momentarily. Ikaris greets them, but the Deviant spears Ikaris down the street into a bus. The bus almost hits all of them, but Sersi gets in front of it and turns it into a bunch of roses. Seeing all of this, Dane is vindicated on his wizard assumptions. The Deviant recovers and attacks again, so Ikaris uses his laser eyes to try and severe a limb on it. To their shock, the Deviant just heals itself. Still, Ikaris presses on and shoots it with his eyes until it falls into a body of water. With things calmed down for the moment, Sprite greets Ikaris with a hug. Seeing everyone’s interactions, Dane correctly assumes that Ikaris is Sersi’s ex. Afterwards, Sersi comes clean with Dane and tells him how they are Eternals from the planet Olympia, they came to Earth 7,000 years ago on the starship Domo to protect humans from the Deviants, and how they were under the impression they killed them all five centuries ago.

As they now know, it looks like the Deviants are back. Dane jokes how this is a bad excuse for not wanting to move in with him and how he’s bothered she can’t change him into a giraffe, but she explains she can’t change sentient beings.

Getting to the real questions, Dane asks why the Eternals didn’t help fight Thanos or any war or terrible thing throughout history. Sersi says they were instructed to not interfere in any human conflicts unless Deviants were involved. If they protected humanity from everything for 7,000 years, they would never have had the chance to develop in the way they were meant to. Dane wonders that if the Deviants were eradicated a long time ago, why is she still there. Apparently, the Eternals have been waiting until they are told they can go home. Dane then asks about Ikaris and how long they were together. Sersi reveals it was around 5,000 years, but he left. She always thought he’d come back, but he never did, which is why she moved on. She apologizes, says she has to go, and they hug. On the news, the anchor details how there was an unprecedented global earthquake that swept nation-states across the world. Many have speculated its connection with “The Blip” from the Avengers films. Sprite has this on in the background while pulling out an old blade of hers, and Sersi and Ikaris are there talking. Sersi brings up how the Deviant healed itself, how it could never do that before, and it was coming after them instead of humans. She asks Ikaris what’s going on, but he explains he came to check on her because of the earthquake. This Deviant is news to him as well. With this, Sersi concludes this is no coincidence. Something is happening to Earth. Despite not seeing some of them for centuries, they realize they have to collect the rest of the team. Ikaris apologizes for hurting Sersi from a personal standpoint but stresses that they need to stick together. Once he knows she’s safe, he will leave her alone. Sersi just says they should find Ajak first because she will know what to do. Ikaris mentions this all being a family reunion to Sprite and she responds that it’s about time. Flashing back to 575 BC in Babylon, the Eternals take out a bunch of Deviants outside the gates of a blue castle. Inside the Hanging Gardens, the golden sphere from inside Ajak leaves her body and disperses all around her to put her in the same space as Arishem (David Kaye) himself.

Ajak updates him on how they continue to keep Babylon safe from the Deviants, more people have come to seek refuge, and how it’s now the largest city on Earth. Arishem replies that the Eternals across the galaxies will learn from her success. She thanks him. Moving on, she tells Arishem how she respects his grand design, but she notices something special about Earth. She tries to detail her worries, but Arishem cuts her off by telling her to not become attached to the planet and to stay focused on the true purpose of her mission. She understands and tells him that she will not let him down. With this, her surroundings change back into the Hanging Gardens where she stands. On the lower level of the building, Domo is parked and Phastos is inside working on something. Ajak asks if he went to the party the night before like she wanted him to. He says he did, but Druig calls him out for lying and tells Ajak that Phastos worked all night. Even so, he shows Ajak what he was working on. In hologram form, he worked out the details to create a steam engine, so the citizens can till their fields at an incredibly fast rate. Sprite thinks it will only freak them out, and Druig points out how they have only had the wheel for a paltry 1,000 years. Phastos argues that Druig could use his powers to control the minds of the citizens to get them there mentally and quicker, but Ajak takes the others’ side and says this invention is too soon. As Sersi shows up late, Ajak wants to know if Phastos has anything simpler. He puts together a hologram for a much easier to digest invention: the plow. Sersi says she has met another group of settlers who are building their homes in the northern fields and how they will need to plow their own crops, so Ajak sees the plow as being perfect for this. Ajak admits humanity may be coming along slower than they would like, but she thinks there is no telling what wonders they will discover as they advance. Later, Sprite tells stories of Gilgamesh and Enkidu to Babylonian citizens through illusions she conjures up, and it turns into a party right after with all the Eternals in attendance. Thena goes to leave to fight more Deviants, but Ikaris tries to stop her because they are to guard the city and he doesn’t want her to fight them alone.

Thena tells Ikaris to get out of her way, as she didn’t come to Earth to cower behind walls. Ikaris argues they need to trust Arishem’s design for the planet, but she leaves. Makkari approaches a group, and Druig can’t help but point out her lateness. Through her sign language, she says she needed to get good enough artifacts to make a good trade. One Babylonian tries to steal one of the artifacts when she isn’t looking, but she swiftly turns and takes it from him. Translating for Makkari, Druig comments that she can sense even the tiniest vibrations, including their voices when they speak. With this, Makkari asks if they have wasted her time with this “trade”. The one man says the Emerald Tablet she is searching for is a myth. Just then, they are interrupted by a fight breaking out, so Druig takes it upon himself to control the minds of everyone in the fight to stop it in its tracks. Then, he has them all make up. Makkari reminds Druig they were told by Ajak to not interfere when humans have conflict. Druig counters with how Ajak also told them stealing is bad, as he knows what Makkari has been up to. They both smile and agree to not snitch on the other. As Sersi dances with the humans at the party, Ikaris speaks with Ajak in private and tells her that he will not let his feelings for Sersi distract him from his mission. He knows humans are far from being able to protect themselves from Deviants, so there is still much to do. Ajak notes how strong his faith is in Arishem. She can feel it. With that being said, she tells him that it’s okay to live a life and encourages him to tell Sersi how he feels. The next day, Sersi helps plant crops and uses her powers to distribute water. Ikaris joins her, as they help the humans all day with farming activities. Later, Sersi gifts Ikaris a rock that matches his eyes, and he calls her “kind” in Babylonian. After she notes how he’s learning their language, he replies that if he wants to spend more time with her, he needs to get to know them. He continues to flirt and calls Sersi beautiful and then lays it all on the line by admitting his feelings. They get intimate soon after. In 400 AD, during the time of the Gupta Empire, Sersi and Ikaris get married.

In the present day in South Dakota, Sersi drives Ikaris and Sprite to where Ajak resides. They walk through the empty house and find Ajak dead in her own backyard. Ikaris is sure it was a Deviant. Later, the three are hanging around in the house, and Sprite conjures up an illusion or a memory of her dancing with Ajak while Ajak sings. Sprite tells Ikaris it was the last time she saw Ajak. She asked Sprite to check on Sersi, so she went to London. It turned out they were both lonely and needed each other. This hits hard for Ikaris, as he knows Sersi was lonely because he’s the one who left her. While they talk at the kitchen table, Sersi is still outside saying goodbye to Ajak. Still, Sprite notes this is the first time in 7,000 years one of them has died. She thinks the Deviant that attacked in London may have been the one who killed Ajak and absorbed her power. Though Ikaris comments that Deviants have never done this in the past, Sprite brings up how it healed itself just like Ajak would. She also swears she almost heard it speak too. Suddenly, the power goes out. Sersi sees this while she’s outside. Then, the golden sphere from Ajak’s body leaves hers and enters Sersi’s. It allows for Sersi to meet Arishem. He tells her that it’s almost time. Sprite and Ikaris wake Sersi out of this vision and ask what happened, so she explains how the sphere Ajak used to talk with Arishem transferred to her. When she reiterates what Arishem said, Sprite tells her to try and talk with him again. Unfortunately, Sersi doesn’t know how. Sprite tells her that Ajak chose Sersi to replace her, which is why she gave her the sphere. However, Ikaris wants a confirmation it was Arishem because it could have been Mahd Wy’ry, a cosmic psychological condition. Flashing back to 1521 AD in Tenochtitlan, the city is under attack. After Makkari saves a child from being nearly crushed by a statue, she runs to meet the rest of the group in the forest alongside Thena. Ajak asks her where the others are, but Makkari details how they had to split up. Thena points out how there were more Deviants than Ajak said, but she had fun dealing with them. Phastos states that once the others kill the last Deviants, they will have eliminated them all from the planet.

Many humans are shot down near them, and the Eternals take notice. Druig tries to intervene, but Ajak stops him because they can’t interfere in their wars. Druig argues genocide is different, their weapons have become too deadly, and maybe it wasn’t a good idea for Phastos to help them advance so much. Phastos counters with how technology is part of their evolutionary process, and it’s not something he can stop. Druig agrees that Phastos can’t, but he can.

As Makkari tries to calm Druig down, Thena strangely announces it’s too late and everyone is going to die. Her eyes turn white and she almost stabs Sersi until Makkari saves her. Next, Thena stabs Phastos, Makkari, and Ajak’s hand until Ajak uses her powers to get inside Thena’s head to remind her she is safe and loved. Her eyes turn back to normal momentarily, but they turn white again and she stabs Ajak in the stomach. Gilgamesh tries to get her to stop but has to knock her out during their fight. Later, they acknowledge Thena is suffering from Mahd Wy’ry, a disease they thought was a myth. Phastos says there is no cure for it, which is why no one talks about it. While lying on a stone table, Thena wakes up and asks what happened, so Ajak explains how she attacked everyone. Thena doesn’t remember any of it. Even so, Ajak explains to her that she has Mahd Wy’ry and her mind is fracturing under the weight of her memories. All Ajak can do is erase them so she can start over. She will have to inform Arishem and take her back to the Domo where they have the technology to help her. Makkari points out how she won’t be Thena anymore, but Kingo brings up how it could happen again and Thena could kill her and the rest of them. Thena pleads with Ajak because she wants to remember her life, but Ajak tells her it’s not important if she remembers her life because her spirit will remain. She will always be Thena deep inside. When she tells Thena to trust her, Druig asks why Thena should trust Ajak because Ajak is asking Thena to let her erase who Thena is. He’s incensed, adding they have trusted her for 7,000 years and it has gotten them nowhere. He goes on about how he’s watched humans destroy each other when he could stop it all in a heartbeat. It does a lot to someone after centuries. He questions if their mission could be a mistake and if they really are helping these people build a better world. Druig looks out at the burning city and likens their group to the people out there, pawns to their leaders who are blinded by loyalty. He wants it to end now. Druig controls the minds of all the soldiers in the city to stop fighting, but Ikaris pushes him against the wall and tells him to let the humans go.

Druig challenges Ikaris to do something about it, but Ajak gets in-between them. Still, Druig tells Ajak that she will have to kill him to stop him. Druig walks out of the pyramid and joins the people of the city below. They all blindly follow Druig, and none of the Eternals stop him. Gilgamesh tells Ajak he will watch over Thena to let her keep her memories. Ajak reveals to Gilgamesh that he might have to kill her if she attacks him one day, but he says they’ll take that chance, prompting a teary-eyed Thena to smile in appreciation. With this, Ajak tells them they can all go. Since the Deviants are gone, there is no reason for them to stay with her. Ikaris thinks she should ask Arishem first and they should stick together since they’re a team, but Ajak sternly comments how she didn’t ask for his advice and to not forget his place. Ajak continues with her goodbyes to them. She says they are free and she wants them to live a life for themselves. It’s not as soldiers, or as the purpose they were given. They are to find their own purpose. When they see each other again one day, she wants them to tell her what they found. In present day Mumbai, Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite go to a film set to see Kingo, as he is now a Bollywood movie star. In the middle of a dance sequence, Kingo’s valet Karun Patel (Harish Patel) introduces himself to the three and says it’s an honor to be in the presence of the Eternals. Kingo cuts and greets his fellow Eternals, welcoming them to the set of his newest film Legend of Ikaris. Kingo is playing Ikaris in the movie. Not wanting to hear it, Ikaris tells Kingo they need to talk. Sprite doubles down on this point and wants it to be in private, gesturing to Patel. However, Kingo says Karun has worked with him for 50 years, so he trusts him completely. He brings up how Karun first thought Kingo was a vampire and tried to stake him through the heart at one point, prompting Karum to remind him how many times he’s apologized for this. Kingo doesn’t think it’s been enough though. Even so, he needs to get ready for his next scene and invites them to his trailer. He talks about how the next scene has him coming in on a wire because he can’t fly, but he starts to realize things are pretty serious once Sersi mentions again how they need to talk. His mood turns sour once they explain how a Deviant killed Ajak.

They don’t know how many Deviants there are, but they are back. He’s not sure if he should go because they just started shooting this movie, the first of a trilogy, and he feels responsible for all the people on set. Plus, BTS agreed to make a cameo. Karun offers advice, but he doesn’t want to hear it. Even so, Karun says anyway that he should go because “Life affords no greater duty than to protect one’s family”. It’s Kingo’s favorite line from The Shadow Warrior 2: Voyage of Time. With this, Kingo relents.

On his private plane, Kingo has Karun record him explaining what’s going on in a documentary format, talking about how the battle between the Eternals and Deviants have gone on for 7,000 years. He says on camera that he’s a movie star, but he’s also an Eternal. Sprite questions what he’s doing. Kingo thinks they should be remembered, so he’s making a documentary on their exploits. He has Karun point the camera in Sprite’s direction and invites her to tell the audience about herself, but Sprite flips off the camera and disappears. Kingo moves on to Sersi, so Ikaris sits down next to her with his drink. Sersi nervously explains how she can turn a rock into water, wood, metal, and air. Kingo decides to cut and tells Sersi to think about it before they come back to her. Once he leaves, Ikaris strikes up a conversation with Sersi by saying Sprite said Sersi is addicted to her phone. Sersi points the phone in his direction to show him the “old man” camera filter and jokes with him. Sprite questions how no one has pointed out how Kingo has stayed as a leading man for over 100 years, but Kingo shows her how he found a way around it. He’s just acted as his own great-great-grandfather, his great-grandfather, his grandfather, and so on. He has made his fake family the greatest dynasty in the history of Bollywood. Changing the subject, Sprite angrily reminds him how he abandoned her in Macedonia. He admits he got sick of moving every five years, noting how people freak out when they notice Sprite doesn’t age. She thought they were friends and feels betrayed, prompting Kingo to gesture to Karun to cut again. He sits down and says he loves movies because of Sprite. He missed sitting in the audience listening to her stories and watching her illusions. Kingo then gets serious and admits they all should have stayed together because Ajak would still be alive. She should have never let them go. The group lands in Australia and find a dead Deviant. Kingo assumes it’s the Deviant the others fought in London. However, Ikaris sees that it’s different. There’s more out there than they thought. They show up to the home of Gilgamesh and Thena.

Gilgamesh was waiting for them and is already aware of the return of the Deviants, as they have been attacked too. Sersi points out that not even Ikaris could kill the one in London, but Ikaris argues he was merely distracted. Still, Gilgamesh is in a chipper mood and wants them to try his pie until they reveal Ajak is dead. He drops the pie and sits down. Thena is near a tree and is painting pictures. Gilgamesh tells Sersi that the attack triggered Thena, and she’s not a lot of fun to be around right now. To show them, Gilgamesh tries to get Thena’s attention to tell her who’s here, but she turns around and tries to attack him. He sees it coming and blocks it, though the white-eyed Thena announces “Everyone in Centuri-6 is going to die”. She talks about it being too late and they can’t save them, so Sprite makes an illusion to surround them all and remind Thena about their past exploits. She goes on about how Thena is the greatest warrior of Olympia, the legendary protector of Athens, and the goddess of war. Hearing these words and Gilgamesh interlocking his fingers with hers, she comes out of her state of madness. This allows Sprite to get rid of the illusion too. With Thena temporarily back to normal, they all share a meal together that Gilgamesh made. During the dinner, Gilgamesh tells Kingo he gave Thena a non-alcoholic drink, he jokes how he gave the same to Sprite, and she responds by making an illusion to where it looks like he’s wearing a baby costume to get a laugh out of the others. Kingo mentions how Thor used to follow him around when he was a kid, but he doesn’t return his calls now that he’s famous. Sprite wonders who will lead The Avengers now that Captain America and Iron Man are dead, and Ikaris thinks he could be the one. Kingo agrees, but Gilgamesh jokingly points out how Ajak didn’t even choose him to lead the Eternals. They all mess with each other, but they pause once Sersi excuses herself to get some air. Kingo compliments Gilgamesh’s homemade mead and offers to potentially sell it, but he’s disgusted once Gilgamesh reveals that it’s corn-based, he chewed each kernel himself, and he fermented it in his own spit.

Outside, Sersi looks at Thena’s paintings. Gilgamesh confirms it’s the Centuri-6 that Thena was talking about, adding that it’s a planet she thinks she used to live on until it was destroyed. She always talks about massive quakes ripping it apart. Apparently, everyone died including herself. Sersi points out the global earthquake that happened three days prior and how it lines up with this line of thinking. Sersi then adds how Ajak chose her to lead the group, but she can’t even figure out how to speak to Arishem. Gilgamesh suggests she’s trying too hard. Sometimes, you just have to listen. Taking in this advice, she goes by herself and sits down in the desert for a moment. With this, she is able to speak with Arishem, and she tells Arishem about Ajak being killed by a Deviant, it potentially absorbing Ajak’s power, and something unusual happening on Earth. Arishem explains that it’s a side effect of the Emergence. She’s unaware of the term, so Arishem goes on to explain the true purpose of her mission. They were sent to Earth to bring forth the Celestial Tiamut. Every billion years, new Celestials must be born. He plants Celestial seeds into host planets across the universe. The planet Earth was chosen to host the Celestial Tiamut. In order to grow, Tiamut needs vast amounts of energy from intelligent life. The Deviants prevented this by consuming humans until the Eternals eliminated them. Now, the human population of this planet has reached the required amount. It’s time for the Emergence to begin. Of course, the Emergence is complete annihilation of Earth for the Celestial Tiamut to emerge from it. Pointing out the obvious, Sersi says everyone on Earth will die, but Arishem replies that the end of one life is the beginning of another. Our universe is a constant exchange of energy, an infinite cycle of creation and destruction. Celestials use energy gathered from host planets to create suns, generating gravity, heat, and light for new galaxies to form. Without them, the universe would fall into darkness. All life will die. Sersi asks if Ajak knew the truth. Arishem confirms, saying Ajak “has helped many Celestials to emerge over millions of years” and so has Sersi. Sersi realizes Earth was her first mission. She talks about being home on Olympia, but Arishem says there is no Olympia. Transporting her there, Arishem shows Sersi her true home, The World Forge. This is where Arishem built and programmed the Eternals.

Sersi comes face to face with a model of what she looked like during this programming phase.

Then, millions of others appear all over the room. Sersi realizes everything dies except them because they were never alive to begin with. She doesn’t remember any of this because her memories are erased and reset after each Emergence. They are all kept in these shelving units in order for Arishem to study the Deviants. Arishem created the Deviants for the same purpose he created her. Every Celestial home planet has its own predators. He first sends the Deviants to exterminate them, so intelligent life can grow. However, the flaw in their design is that they evolved and became predators themselves. He lost control of them. So, he built and programmed the Eternals to be synthetic beings and incapable of evolution to correct his mistake. He tells Sersi that Ajak has chosen her to take her place as the Prime Eternal. He leaves her with the haunting statement: Do not fail me. Sersi relays the truth to the others, and they try to process it all. Gilgamesh apologizes to Thena since she tried to warn them. Sprite assumes something must have gone wrong the last time Arishem tried to reset Thena’s memories, saying this is what Mahd Wy’ry is. This whole time, Thena was remembering all the other planets they were sent to and everyone dying during the Emergence. Gilgamesh sadly points out how they are the bad guys, not the heroes he thought they were. Kingo doesn’t see it this way. They have helped the Celestials expand life across the universe. That’s something good guys do. Sersi says that anytime innocent lives have been sacrificed for the greater good, it turns out to be a mistake. She wants to stop the Emergence. Kingo argues they have no right to stop the birth of a Celestial, but Sersi thinks there has to be another way for Tiamut to emerge without destroying the Earth. She wants to delay it until they figure out how. Gilgamesh wonders if Druig could control its mind and possibly put it to sleep. Thena mentions that Gilgamesh asked Druig once to put her to sleep, prompting Gilgamesh to admit it was so he could take a vacation in Fiji. Sersi still wants to try because she doesn’t want everyone on Earth to die, so Karun agrees with her wholeheartedly (“I’m human. I’m a little biased”). Kingo tells Karun the world is ending and to go home, but Karun would rather be with the Earth’s original superheroes as they try to save the world.

Ikaris tells them all that they need to leave now to get the others. Once they are all together, they will decide what to do about the Emergence.

My Thoughts:

It goes without saying that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has struggled during Phase Four and its beginning of “The Multiverse Saga”. Eternals was to be its first major leap forward into a new property. After all, Guardians of the Galaxy was an unknown entity and succeeded mightily under the MCU banner. At first, some considered it a fluke just because Marvel was so hot at the time, but James Gunn proved otherwise. The next biggest test was the fallout stemming from Avengers: Endgame. Once Spider-Man and Black Widow got their movies out of the way, it was time for something new. Following the success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, all signs pointed to continued success because why wouldn’t it? Eternals was primed to be a massive film that would explain the past and determine the future of the MCU with its all-encompassing narrative, as its ancient, all-powerful characters are revealed to be a part of Earth’s history since 5000 BC. Despite Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) helming the project and an astronomical budget to work with, the superhero movie struggles under the weight of its expectations due to an overabundance of characters, plot holes, a misuse of resources, and the screenplay being too dense for its own good.

Part of the problem is the existence of the MCU itself. To be fair, a standalone feature about these ancient superheroes existing through centuries and being a major part of Earth’s history as these alien-like puppeteers would be an engrossing one. When you consider the mythology behind who the group is and what could be done with them, the basic premise behind the Eternals is enchanting to say the least. Considering the scope of the film and the nonlinear narrative being the only way to tell the story to reach its potential, Chloé Zhao taking inspiration from someone like Terrence Malick makes a lot of sense too. She studied the right people. Maybe that is why Eternals is so grossly underwhelming, as it becomes undercooked as a superhero film AND doesn’t live up to the emotional gravitas that it wanted to spotlight in its generations-long story. It’s a shame because Zhao is better than this as a filmmaker, but part of the storytelling issues come from the fact that the screenplay has to come back to the main MCU timeline at some point, even if it doesn’t fit the story they are telling in this movie specifically. Because everything has to be in the same universe, everything in EVERY movie moving forward regarding new characters has to come back to the basic question of where these superheroes were when Thanos was killing off half the population and they were at war. Since the trailer was released, this was the question everyone wanted answered because it cannot be avoided, especially if the characters are as important to Marvel as they are portrayed to be in this film. Early in the movie, Sersi explains that they were instructed by Ajak to not interfere in any human conflicts unless Deviants were involved because if they protected humanity from everything for 7,000 years, they “would never have had the chance to develop in the way they were meant to”. Strangely enough, this is a decent reason, but it works more to explain why they wouldn’t interfere with war or historical events. On the other hand, it’s not a satisfactory explanation on two varying levels. If we take the perspective of the Eternals themselves, their reasoning for not interfering in major events make sense because a lot of it was key to humanity’s evolution.

In a way, this point could also be used as a decent explanation to non-religious people as to why God doesn’t interfere when tragedies occur. This may seem like a digression, but with all the religious allegories in the movie, it’s important to note. Ikaris’s whole philosophy of serving the Celestials and refusing to compromise his faith is somewhat of a subtle criticism on religious doctrine in general, as it’s pointed out as wrong by others on his team (“I do not exist for Arishem! I exist for my family!”). These topics of discussion the screenplay addresses by utilizing the mask that is the Eternals’ mythology is quite interesting in that regard. However, the real questions come with the small stuff and subsequently the Thanos stuff. Stopping evolution does go against the Eternals’ whole goal with humanity, but why can’t Druig break up a small fight at a party? This isn’t the butterfly effect! Early on, Makkari reminds Druig he can’t interfere with ANY human conflict because it stops their progression, but there is no way in hell a drunken group fight at a party where everyone is having a good time could possibly affect humanity’s evolution. Moments like those happen virtually every day, and the group is only stationed in Babylon during this point in the film. If they stop one fight at a party, is it really going to make that much of a difference? Why can’t Druig use his mind control powers to stop little stuff like this when there is no ripple effect discernible? Keep in mind, he does it anyway in this scene and everything is completely fine. There’s no reason as to why Druig can’t do this from time to time without facing backlash from the rest of the group. He would have to relent when it came to war and such, but what’s the big deal of breaking up a bar fight? Secondly, not interfering with the Thanos situation doesn’t work with their line of thinking. They are trying to act as if the Deviants are a bigger threat to humanity’s existence, which is why they are only to step in once those monsters appear, but does anyone buy this? Regardless of the twist where it’s all revealed to be a setup by Arishem since he’s the REAL puppet master creating synthetic beings, the Deviants themselves have to at least trick us into thinking they are something special since they clearly tricked the Eternals for thousands of years.

With this being said, that’s part of the problem. It’s hard for viewers to suspend their disbelief to this idea because of how poor the Deviants’ presentation is. They are as unoriginal in design and concept as can be.

We are too deep into the MCU to fall for generic monster aliens being interesting on film. Though their backstory is somewhat intriguing, the execution of it is below average. In addition, the action and character design is far too derivative of the countless other faceless, CGI alien bad guys we have seen overtime in the MCU that we don’t care nor see them as the threat the Eternals see them as. The demon monster at the beginning of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a thousand times scarier and more creative than the “threat” the Deviants are supposed to be. Now, we’re supposed to believe they are terrible enough to warrant the Eternals’ interference, but Thanos erasing half the population was just part of the process? In this universe and in human history, no war or conflict has ever come close to the loss of lives that happened during “The Blip”. How would this not warrant a stepping-in of sorts on the part of the Eternals, especially if it directly effects their entire purpose? As told in the story, they are supposed to help grow the population large enough for the Celestial Tiamut to emerge and blow up the Earth to create itself. Thanos temporarily removing everyone stalled their process and their timeline by a few years, so wouldn’t they want to move in right after Avengers: Infinity War to take him out and reverse the “snap”? Wouldn’t they see Thanos as a Druig-like entity on a grander scale? They got mad at Druig for trying to stop a battle in Mexico, but Thanos nearly destroying the planet to stall a Celestial being born for another few generations isn’t as bad? Why? Furthermore, if they were that close to reaching the amount of people they desired for the emergence to happen, humanity was not going to develop any more than it already had. So, the one thing that stops them from intervening in a situation is a moot point, meaning nothing is holding the Eternals back from stopping Thanos’s takeover. Plus, it only makes sense since it would further their mission. You would think Arishem would direct Ajak to do something during this timeframe since this directly affects his plan.

Do you now see the problem with the MCU and how everything being forced to connect has hindered the stories of its newest productions? Casual audiences are at risk of completely losing interest if they are trying to connect the dots themselves.

Along with poor depiction of the Deviants being these huge threats, we are also supposed to believe how powerful the Eternals are as superheroes lurking in the background overseeing everyone and everything. However, none of them give off the aura needed to make us believe in these ultimate, ancient alien heroes. Casting is a factor. Gemma Chan is lifeless and whiny, no one is falling for Brian Tyree Henry being a superhero, Lauren Ridloff offered nothing, Barry Keoghan was wasted due to lack of screentime because of the number of characters involved, and Kumail Nanjiani being a joke his whole life and now trying to convince us he’s an action hero was subpar at best. The characters themselves being these amazing super-powered beings didn’t translate like how they are written either. None of them seem stronger or more talented than previous superheroes depicted in the MCU like Thor, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, or even Iron Man, despite Tony Stark just being a normal person. With the Eternals, all their powers are varied and relatively unimpressive. They can all fight in a general sense, but they don’t do enough for the viewer to believe they are the chosen ones behind the history of Earth. Without spoiling anything, Ajak is pushed off a cliff onto ice to fight Deviants by herself, and she tries to kill them with a fucking shotgun at one point. It’s like she forgot she’s a superhero at the worst time possible. Only Ikaris can fly, and Sersi can just turn stuff into the elements but doesn’t look like she’s ever been in a fight nor wants to be in one. In the climax, they are racing against time to get to the Emergence point at a volcano. Sersi goes it alone as the leader, and she’s JOGGING up the volcano, taking her sweet time. Are you kidding me? There has never been a more necessary moment for a Tom Cruise run than that moment right there, but Gemma Chan proves her lack of athletic ability or believability as the leader of the Eternals in this small but CRUICIAL detail. The David Bowie mixed with Harry Potter-like Sprite’s illusions couldn’t possibly help her in a battle with a supervillain with above average intelligence, and Phastos is an intelligent inventor who’s very good at making blueprints, but that just makes him a glorified architect.

Kingo was the most entertaining out of the bunch, but my least favorite comic actor of the modern era playing the role hindered it. Moreover, the character walking out on everyone and completely missing the climax simply because he agreed with the villain but wouldn’t fight his friends made him look like a gigantic pussy in the grand scheme of things. What little credibility he had was completely lost in that moment, as it doesn’t get much worse than skipping out on the most important sequence of the movie when the heroes’ backs are against the wall and its life or death. Kingo reappears in the epilogue, but you want to shoo him away because it’s like he doesn’t even belong in their friend group anymore. When the going got tough, he turned his back. Now, they’re cool again? No, that’s unacceptable.

Gilgamesh can at least fight, but he’s given zero depth past this basic description, and Thena surviving past her Mahd Wy’ry diagnosis still doesn’t seem like it was worth the hassle for Gilgamesh to dedicate his entire life to protecting her, as well as keeping her in check. Thena takes so long to come to her senses to help that you don’t cheer for the big moment. Instead, you scream, “Finally! Damn!”. Also, Angelina Jolie was miscast. Thena is this ancient goddess of war who’s vicious and all about kicking ass. On paper, getting an action heroine like Jolie makes sense, but her performance doesn’t match the character. Her performance gives off the qualities and aura of what Ajak should have been, the role she would have been better suited for. Going along with this, Salma Hayek doesn’t fit as the all-knowing, wise, thousands-of-years-old leader of the Eternals who’s words the group lives and dies by. As crazy as it sounds, Hayek is too human in the role. She doesn’t come off as this cosmic entity from another planet leading a group of superheroes over a span of 7,000 years. She comes off as Salma Hayek in a cool costume. Jolie acting the same exact way but being placed in the role of Ajak would have fit the character’s description much better. Of course, the character was a man in the comics, but they couldn’t do that for whatever reason, despite this role practically screaming Liam Neeson. For the record, as a fan of Marvel’s use of star power to bolster their characters, it was cool to see Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie in the same movie. Even so, they just didn’t fit the roles they got. You need a young actress with the fire of a Linda Hamilton in the role of Thena, not the brooding, understated approach Jolie gave. If Jolie brought SOME of that fire in her performance, it could have worked, but she played it with too little of energy and seemed all-around confused on how to portray the character. Is it crazy to say Michelle Rodriguez or Olivia Wilde would have brought exactly what was needed for Thena?

In a different timeline, Jolie would have been an excellent Sersi by the way. It was never more apparent than when Thena makes that speech to Sersi about why she is the best person the lead them before the climax. Had this been years ago, Jolie would have been perfect as the lead. With how things played out however, it’s still a shame she was underutilized in the manner she was here.

Either Salma Hayek didn’t understand the importance of her character and just played it as normal as possible, or they gave her that little of direction that she just went for the most basic emotional performance the script allotted for. Ajak is written as a legend among the Eternals and their bridge to Arishem. They follow her blindly as a leader who knows all and who’s word is taken as gospel. In that sense, Hayek isn’t convincing. Considering the science fiction ties, casting someone like Sigourney Weaver could have added the gravitas needed for the role if it had to be female. Makkari has the powers of Quicksilver but is nowhere near as entertaining and is deaf. For the diversity inclusion, I suppose it’s a win, but it doesn’t make sense why there is a deaf superhero and one of her closest friends is an inventor who could probably think of a specialized device to improve her hearing, considering how easy he’s able to come up with all of these technological advancements at the drop of a hat. If you are going to completely change the Makkari character from who he actually was in the comics for the sake of diversity and to tell the comic fanbase that they don’t give a fuck what they have become accustomed to, you have to give a good enough reason onscreen as to why this guy was inexplicably turned into a deaf black woman. Other than some subtle flirting with Druig, her deafness nor her character in general contributed to the story at all. This is the other annoying element of the movie, as it not only refuses to bring in the casual audience and just confuses them, it gives the middle finger to the avid comic book reader who has enjoyed the IP Marvel created years ago, with almost every character being changed entirely from who they were written to be, a constant gripe of fandom today. If the heart is in the right place, you can do it here and there but doing it for almost every single character becomes insulting and only further fuels the fire of the critics who are accusing a recent slew of movies of being agenda-pushing rather than serving the story itself. Eternals might be the preeminent example for those that are bothered by this.

Clearly, they were trying to make the cast as diverse as possible to appeal to a wider audience, but it had the reverse effect. For a team of ancient superheroes who speak about being connected for 7,000 years and consider themselves a family, it doesn’t translate. They are so different from each other that it’s hard to believe they would associate with one another. If you want to see the same idea done correctly and with a heartfelt core, look at what Victor and Rosa Vasquez do in Shazam!. Obviously, the dynamic is much different, but the idea of these mismatched people still having this strong bond when they are together or under their patriarch, or matriarch in the case of Ajak in Eternals, is the same. Still, there is not much chemistry between them for a group that have known each other for that long, and the outliers don’t interact for more than a sentence or two. There’s one conversation about revenge that Druig has with Thena, and that’s it. Stuff like this becomes noticeable for a group that considers themselves a family.

Druig being the disrupter of the group was cool to see, as he was the only one who dared to defy the expectations of the Eternals. Him running his own peaceful faction in the Amazon was an intriguing way to reintroduce the character, and Keoghan looked to be reveling in being the detractor who is looking more in the right every day. His entrance donning the black robe in greeting the group made him look like a Sith lord, which I did enjoy. The tension in that church-like room, as well as the humor stemming from the back and forth with him and Kingo when Druig responds to Kingo’s comments of him not being a god by saying it’s ironic coming from the movie star (“I’ve directed some things too”) was one of the most entertaining scenes in the movie. Despite the fate of Earth at hand, Druig is in Kingo’s face arguing over how many views he gets online (“I don’t do it for the views”) to the point where Ikaris wants to leave because the time wasted. It was very funny. The best part is it leading to Druig challenging Ikaris next, calling back to their fallout so many years prior as the two don’t get along. It’s a great scene, and Keoghan does a great job in reminding the viewers how this group has this dedicated mythology they have spent a quarter of the movie selling us on, but it was actually all a lie. Druig calling it a 7,000-year suicide mission put a great stamp on it, putting everything into perspective as to why Sersi finding out the truth from Arishem is such a big moment in their collective lives. Unfortunately, they never capitalize on Druig’s momentum past this scene. They just give him a leather jacket later because they assume it will give him the presence of Marlon Brando in The Wild One and that should be good enough. It’s disappointing really. When his role should be expanded after a sequence like that, it plateaus. The same could be said about Gilgamesh, as his exit comes before the character could really get going. They do attempt something of interest with Sprite, with her appearance being forever stuck as a child and being the Tinker Bell to Ikaris’s Peter Pan was an intriguing development that Kingo notes.

She’s right to question why Arishem made her this way because the audience can’t think of a single reason as to why either.

Though it does give Sprite a good enough reason to back Ikaris in the third act (“You’re the strongest! You should be making the decision”), they never go all-in with the emotional struggle Sprite faces regarding this and it hurts her depth too. The problem is that there are just too many characters to juggle and all of their character development is halted at some point in the picture because there’s too much to do within the runtime while keeping things on track with the main story at hand. It’s admirable that they took on the challenge, but it’s more because they had to given the comic book’s background. In practice, they tried to find as many ways out of it as they could or did just the bare minimum in trying to get us to care before going back to the main fight, like knowing how Thena would react quickly when Ikaris and Sprite team up, so they just have Thena enter the room seconds after they leave as if she was in the bathroom or something. In another instance, they haven’t seen Makkari in centuries, and they find her hanging out in the Domo in Iraq waiting to go back to Olympia. The little we learn about her is that she has millions of artifacts she’s collected, including this Emerald Tablet she’s wanted since Babylon. Okay, why? I still don’t know. She just likes collecting artifacts, I suppose? It’s never explained, not even in sign language. We literally know fuck all about Makkari other than she has an infectious smile, she likes artifacts, and she’d be down to clown with Druig. Besides Tiamut emerging, the main story is the relationship issue between Sersi and Ikaris, but can anyone articulate why Ikaris left for so many years that led to the dissolution of their relationship? Even though it’s the main reason for their fallout, they kept walking around the details, and it’s never explained as to where the fuck he even went. The cherry-picking of historical events was strange too. Hiroshima being Phastos’s reasoning for giving up on humanity, especially with him seeing it as his fault because his technology helped them advance was a great way at explaining why, though there was a missed opportunity in not showing his reaction when Nagasaki happened right after.

On a side note, despite this being a great tipping point, the film’s timeline completely bypassing slavery implies that Phastos didn’t deem it a strong enough case to give up on humans before Hiroshima even happened. This is a HUGE mistake that is not only insulting but also sounds like a Disney decision because they were too scared to depict it or acknowledge it. Then again, it’s not too shocking considering the source. We are talking about the company that STILL acts like they didn’t make Song of the South.

The biggest attribute of Eternals is the philosophical questions stemming from their existence. Again, it forces the audience to try and see things from their point of view, despite the viewer not relating to these alien beings on paper. Phastos realizing Ajak’s refusal to let them interfere with human conflict leads to war and war actually leading to the advancement in lifesaving technology and medicine is quite the thought process that you can’t help but acknowledge as a solid point, morbidity noted. The kicker however is Phastos pointing out how their mission was never about peace but rather increasing the population at all costs to “farm humans as food for Celestials” in an earth-shattering line delivery that forces the viewer to engage with their plight. It gives a whole new meaning to “My life is a lie”. The engrossing questions they want us to face don’t stop there. From their perspective, how do they see mankind? Druig thought about taking over the minds of everyone on the planet to erase violence, fear, and greed, but he never went that far because these flaws make humans who they are. In a way, it’s a good thing. It’s what makes us unique, and it’s cool for the Eternals to relate to humanity in varied ways like this. Their conscience is what makes them change their minds on humanity because they start to enjoy the people, despite their flaws (“I have seen them fight and lie and kill, but I have also seen them laugh, love, create, and dream”). On the opposite side, the Deviants start to develop a conscience too, but they take it in the other direction. After one Deviant starts to see Ajak’s memories after killing her, he sees all the life destroyed every time a Celestial is born, and how Arishem uses his kind and just leaves them to die with each Emergence. He sees the Eternals as murderers, not saviors. Surely, it’s a fine line, and each member of the Eternals struggles with the reality of who they are in the grand scheme of things, which does make the narrative perplexing enough to keep the viewer’s attention. It forces the audience to question if the moral standpoint is the answer or the born purpose resulting in the bigger picture is the way to go. Are the heroes and villains as simple as they seem? Of course not, and that is the best part about Eternals.

Kingo’s whole point about how if they accidentally kill Tiamut, they would be responsible for billions of lives not being created across the universe is a mixed bag though. If they were never created in the first place, couldn’t you argue that they aren’t responsible for anything because it never happened (Minority Report would like a word)? It just seems like looking at it from Kingo’s perspective is overthinking it. At the same time, arguing that the stopping of the emergence prevents worlds and lives from being created is the most thinly-veiled pro-life argument I’ve seen in a while. Take with that what you will. Besides this, is Kingo forgetting the fact that they would still be killing billions of people to turn around and create billions of people? Does that not cancel each other out and technically accomplish nothing? What’s the fucking difference? Arishem’s design is more or a less a merry-go-round. Sprite arguing that space colonization would take decades doesn’t seem like a realistic timeline either because Phastos could easily invent a series of specialized vehicles to help them get it done in short order.

The forest action sequence wasn’t visually appealing because of the location, but the moments were exciting, like Thena dealing with a Mahd Wy’ry attack in the middle of the Deviant attack and her fighting Ikaris (“Terrible timing Thena”), prompting Gilgamesh to try and put a stop to both. It was at this moment where you’re over the character of Thena and wouldn’t hate if Ikaris just takes her out because she’s that much of a headache. Even so, we know she will be fine because Angelina Jolie is the biggest star in the movie. Regardless, all of it leading to Sersi turning a Deviant into a tree statue that even shocks her was a cool visual. Going along with this, the climax was very good, despite some hiccups. Thena’s fight with the Deviant was great, the beginning of the Tiamut’s emergence was terrifying in a fantastical way, and Druig hitting Sprite with a rock in the back of the head made my day (“Well, that was very moving”). It almost makes you forget that Sersi is dressed like a member of the Green Lantern Corps.

The dynamic between Gemma Chan’s Sersi and Richard Madden’s Ikaris is a saving grace of the movie. Having them be former lovers with the spark still there, who stand on these differing sides and having to draw a line in the sand by the end for the fate of Earth is an exciting development. It might not be on the level of a Captain America: Civil War, but it’s enough to make sure we want to see things through to the end. Madden has a star-making performance in particular, as Ikaris struggles with who he genuinely loves and how his purpose has to trump it. With this being the movie’s strong suit and having to juggle it with the romantic angle, Chloé Zhao should have went full Terrence Malick and made this a three-hour epic. That final montage would have DEMANDED tears from everyone had enough time been given to all the plotlines involved. It was still emotional, but it should have been an iconic moment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Truthfully, all the ingredients were there to make this a modern-day Greek mythology of epic proportions with demigods fighting gods, forbidden love, and the fate of the world at stake. That’s what they lost out with the runtime given. Plus, stretching it to three hours would have allowed for Dane to get a bigger role in the story, along with more much-needed humor. He could have been what Martin Freeman was to Black Panther or Natalie Portman was to the first two Thor movies. Watching him in a battle of one-upmanship against Ikaris for Sersi’s love would have helped the entertainment value of Eternals immensely. It would show all sides of Ikaris too, as he commanded the screen from every angle and could have used some amusing scenes to lighten him up, furthering the shock of the twist. Considering Sprite being a backstabber and still having a happy ending that was only written that way to explain the age-up of the actress moving forward for potential sequels, Ikaris’s arc ending the way it did was a dreadful decision, especially knowing how badly Madden carried the movie. With Keoghan’s star rising every day and him being harder to keep around as a result and Madden’s role presumably being a one-and-done, the future of the Eternals in the MCU is bleak. Hopefully, Gemma Chan stays on board and Harry Styles comes through because these two have garnered enough interest together with their respective characters that I would enjoy seeing them in the Marvel Universe moving forward.

On a minor note, credit has to be given to the exchange Phastos has with Sersi when coming up with idea of repurposing the sphere from Sersi to create the connection to activate the Uni-Mind. She asks if it will work and the way he responds with such desperation in that “It has to” was great. It almost makes up for Thena somehow not knowing how to use a toaster (“I get confused sometimes”) or her getting weirdly aggressive with Phastos’s son after being called “Athena” instead of “Thena” which is a pretty honest mistake coming from a child.

Narratively clunky and trying to cram too much in, Eternals struggles with too complicated story details and too many brand-new characters and subplots to capture the attention of the casual audience while detracting from its source material enough to annoy fans of the comic. Besides this, the lore behind the new supergroup is too far-fetched for even the most outrageous of Marvel properties and their existence arguably undermines the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. With Eternals, we are supposed to believe that after all these years, NOW we are being introduced to the most important superheroes in the planet’s existence. They set up the movie for failure really. It was being built up as the most pivotal MCU production moving forward post-Endgame, with the characters being looked at to help lead the next phase. They put all their eggs in one basket with this film, but it underperformed considerably. Despite the lack of interest coming out of it, these new characters are too important to the overarching Multiverse Saga to be forgotten about, so they are in quite the pickle moving forward. The future of this IP is going to be a captivating one to watch fold. There’s still a lot to explore within the Eternals’ mythology and enough of a foundation laid to want to see more of it, but as a one-off experience, it might have a case for Marvel’s weakest outing thus far.