For a decade, Marvel was invincible. Every film the studio released was a guaranteed hit. However, the post-Avengers era: Endgame (2019) showed that what goes up can come down, and the fall is not pretty.
Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was inaugurated by Black Widow (2021). The prequel about Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) lived up to expectations after a difficult year for cinemas. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) came later and did well, but The Eternals (2021) was an unexpected flop.
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Three years have passed since the film’s release and we have already forgotten its existence. It became the first Marvel film not to be certified “Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s score on the review aggregator is currently 47%. This ends the good run of Marvel films, which have always been certified “Fresh”. By obtaining less than 60%, The Eternals is therefore the first Marvel to be classified “Rotten”.
This failure is unexpected for several reasons. The film had the benefit of introducing a new group of superheroes and an Oscar-winning director behind the camera. Chloé Zhao won the coveted statuette for Nomadland (2020) in 2021. On the other hand, its cast included several stars: Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Barry Keoghan, Kit Harington and Richard Madden. Nothing helps, The Eternals cost nearly $236.2 million and grossed just $402 million worldwide.
A film censored in several countries
The film was also banned in several countries. In Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, the film was not released due to the appearance of a same-sex marriage. In the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, an edited version was broadcast, in which the romantic scenes between the superhero Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and her husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman) do not appear.
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Angelina Jolie criticized countries that banned the film. “I am sad for these spectators. I’m proud that Marvel refused to remove these scenes” she told News.com.au in November 2021. “I still don’t understand how we live in a world where there are still people who don’t see the Phastos family and don’t perceive the beauty of this relationship and this love. It’s ignorance that someone could be angry about it, feel threatened by it, don’t approve of it or like it“.
Marvel’s plans thwarted after The Eternals
Although the film, available on Disney+, was not the success Marvel hoped for, the film left behind some of the MCU’s finest scenes. Additionally, fans were able to hear Mahershala Ali’s voice as Eric Brooks/Blade in the film’s post-credits scene. They also saw the introduction of Dane Whitman/Black Rider, Kit Harington’s character
Marvel postponed Bladethe reboot of the vampire hunter that Ali was to play in the MCU. On the other hand, the future of Harington’s character is not encouraging either. There are other problems: The Eternals ends with the kidnapping of Sersi (Chan) and a cliffhanger which foreshadowed a sequel.
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However, following the poor reception of the film, there is little chance that we will be entitled to an The Eternals 2. Even the post-credits scene introduced new characters: Harry Styles made his debut in the role of Eros and Patton Oswalt as Pip the troll. Clearly, fans have forgotten The Eternals, but so has Marvel.
Article written in collaboration with our colleagues from Sensacine.
