After a year-long delay, Marvel’s Eternals had its awaited theatrical debut on Nov. 5.  This new Marvel film was directed by academy award-winner, Chloé Zhao.  Eternals introduces ten new superheroes into the MCU, as well as a number of villains, such as the Deviants.  The film stars Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, and Kumail Nanjiani, with other key characters being played by Gemma Chan, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, and Kit Harington.  Fans were also excited to see Harry Styles make a brief appearance in the film.  

However, Eternals has received mostly negative reviews..  

“Anyone who hoped that recruiting Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) to the Marvel stable might herald a radical change of direction is likely to be disappointed by Eternals,” said film critic Wendy Ide in an article in The Guardian. 

The movie focuses on the Eternals, creatures who are not quite human, but not gods either.  These aliens were sent to Earth by Celestials to protect early humans from mutant monsters, called Deviants.  The story takes place 7,000 years after the Eternals were sent to Earth, long after Avengers: Endgame, when the billions of vanished people have returned.  

Although the Eternals believed that they killed all of the Deviants hundreds of years ago, they find out this is not true when they are attacked.  Throughout the complicated plot, they battle Deviants and find out the truth of why they were sent to Earth. 

 “Although I am a huge fan of Marvel, I think that the plot of the movie was confusing.  If I did not have background information on the movie I probably would not have understood it, ” said freshman Emma Goldberg. 

Eternals received one of the lowest rotten tomato scores of any Marvel Movie, with a rating of 48%, and a CinemaScore of a B.   The goal of this movie was to cram a thousand years into just two hours and 37 minutes, and for many viewers, it was too much information.  It made the plot hard to understand, especially with the period of time constantly jumping back and forth. 

 “The overall plot was really complex, and I kept getting lost in the storyline,” said sophomore Ella Kane. 

However, one of the things that critics and viewers were happy about was the inclusivity featured in the movie, especially with the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also, the gender representation in the film was applauded by critics, fans, and even the actors and actresses in the movie.

“I’m so excited to join the Marvel family as Ajak, the mother of all Eternals. It used to be the father of all Eternals, but girls … this is OUR time!!!!” said Salma Hayek on Instagram. 

In 1976, Jack Kirby wrote the comic book the movie was based on, The Eternals.  The book took a majority of the inspiration from Greek mythology, giving the characters names such as Thena, Ikaris, Sprite, Phastos, Ajak, Makkari, Kingo, Gilgamesh, and Druig.  Eternals are written to be highly skilled warriors with different powers, including great strength, speed and agility.  A few minor changes have been made from the original comics to the movie, such as gender changes of various characters, as well as changes in the timeline of the Eternals’ history on Earth. 

Many of the cast members are excited about Zhao’s movie and the turnout, while fans have expressed how they cannot wait for the future of Eternals.  Eternals has been released to theaters, and is already available in theaters near you.  It is also predicted that Eternals will likely be available on Disney Plus. 

“I am so excited to see this movie! I have waited so long for it to be released, ” said freshman Mailynn Betanco.