A revisit of the MCU - “Eternals”

For the past few weeks I have been revisiting some of the MCU (primarily the end of Phase 3 going into Phase 4). To space these MCU revisits out a bit, I decided to split these revisits up in parts, making “Eternals” the last movie for this MCU segment. I will start the second part of my MCU revisit at a later date.

Marvel’s “Eternals” features a new team of superheroes, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years.

Following the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants.

Just like a few of the other MCU movies that I have recently revisited, this was the first time checking out “Eternals” since I reviewed the movie in 2021. While this MCU movie still delivers some great action, heart and an ambitious story, it can be a bit too long and even slightly complicated at times.

Some of the action/fight sequences featured in this movie can be fun and, sometimes, exhilarating. While a bit of the action can be a little bland at times, the final battle really makes up for it. During that battle, we see various members of the Eternals trying to defeat the enemy while a Celestial was coming out of the Earth in the background. This entire sequence can be both really tense and visually incredible.

“Eternals” also can deliver a decent amount of heart and emotion. Throughout most of the movie, we follow the Eternals as some of the movie focuses on their personal dynamics and their relationships with each other. This MCU entry also dives into some complex themes, such as love, loss, duty and the passing of time (which all can be rather thought-provoking at times).

Even though “Eternals” can have some fun action and heart, the movie can also have a

lot going on. Since this movie introduces us to ten new immortal characters, each of them has their own story that we follow and it can be a little challenging following all of their stories.

The movie also tries to cram a massive story that spans roughly 7,000 years of human history, the origins of the Eternals and Deviants, the nature of the Celestials, and so much more in a two and a half hour runtime. This ambitious narrative can be a bit too overstuffed and a little hard to follow.

Trivia: The Celestial’s were first mentioned and briefly seen in “Guardians of the Galaxy” where the Collector explained the origin of the universe and the Infinity Stones. Director Chloe Zhao described the movie as a melting pot of East-West influences: Jack Kirby’s original work, previous comic book movies, Studio Ghibli films, the Final Fantasy series, and her love of sci-fi and fantasy movies. 

My MCU revisit: Part II will consist of: “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook to see when I will be starting my second part of my MCU revisit (likely towards the end of summer or early fall).

MPA: Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, some language and brief sexuality   (runtime 156 minutes)

You can stream “Eternals” and other movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney Plus.