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Eternals was one of the MCU’s biggest flops, but it didn’t need to be. Directed by Academy Award–winner Chloé Zhao, with a star-studded ensemble, Eternals was positioned as a bold new direction for the MCU timeline. Yet despite the promise of sprawling cosmic lore and striking visuals, Eternals ended up as one of the MCU’s most divisive entries.

Eternals brought the eponymous troupe of ancient aliens tasked with protecting Earth to life. Despite its promise, Eternals flopped at the box office and among critics. However, when examined closer, it’s clear that Eternals had all the ingredients to be a great superhero film – it just got bogged down by the expectations and restrictions of the MCU.

Eternals Should Have Been A Great Movie

Eternals had everything going for it. The movie ᴀssembled what might be the most impressive cast in the entire MCU – Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, and Kit Harington, among others. Few superhero ensembles have balanced so many critically acclaimed and recognizable actors.

Zhao seemed poised to make the most of their chemistry. The core story also had emotional weight: a family of immortals divided over how to handle their purpose on Earth. At its heart, Eternals is less about punching monsters and more about ideological differences within a family.

This could have set it apart from the typical MCU formula. Eternals’ cinematography and visual ambition were also striking. Zhao leaned into practical location shooting and natural light, giving Eternals a painterly quality that stood out from Marvel’s usual green screen look.

Combined with the sweeping score and cosmic backstory, the movie often felt more like an epic myth than a superhero blockbuster. For viewers who could embrace it as a standalone piece of intricate sci-fi fantasy, there was a lot to admire. In fact, watching it while pretending it isn’t part of the MCU at all improves the experience dramatically.

Stripped of the baggage of Marvel continuity, Eternals becomes compelling. It’s a story about immortals locked in a centuries-long feud, torn between their mission and their love for humanity. That premise, paired with the talent on display, could have made Eternals one of Marvel’s very best.

Eternals Was Hampered By MCU Canon

Unfortunately, Eternals couldn’t exist as a standalone story. Its connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe weighed heavily on the film from the very beginning. The movie spent a surprising amount of time justifying why the powerful Eternals team had never interfered in human history, particularly during the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

The explanation (that they were forbidden from interfering unless Deviants were involved) felt unconvincing at best. Viewers struggled to accept that ten godlike heroes would stand idly by while Thanos wiped out half of all life in the universe. This single contradiction undermined the story before it could even take off.

The movie also bent over backward to tie itself into the MCU. Mentions of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America felt shoehorned rather than organic. The inclusion of Dane Whitman (Kit Harington), who barely factored into the main story but was clearly there to set up Black Knight for the future, distracted from the film’s core drama.

Similarly, the post-credit scenes introduced even more new characters, including Harry Styles’ Eros and Patton Oswalt’s Pip the Troll, which only piled additional narrative weight onto an already dense film. Instead of letting the Eternals stand on their own, Marvel treated them as a springboard for more franchises.

Timing also worked against Eternals. It hit theaters just two months after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Shang-Chi likewise struggled at the box office, offering a limp lead-in for Eternals. By this point, it seemed the MCU was faltering, aided notably by the emergence of superhero fatigue.

Mainstream audiences were also unfamiliar with the Eternals as a concept. After the high stakes of the Infinity Saga, their introduction felt oddly timed and unnecessary. Marvel’s decision to push Eternals as a major Phase 4 tentpole only heightened expectations it couldn’t realistically meet.

Eternals Could Have Been More Distinct

What ultimately hurt Eternals most was Marvel’s hesitation to let it fully break from the MCU formula. Zhao’s vision leaned heavily into high fantasy, mythology, and existential questions about humanity’s place in the cosmos. Yet the movie seemed pulled in two directions: one toward artistic ambition, the other toward familiar superhero tropes.

The result was a film that felt uneven, never fully committing to either approach. Had Marvel marketed Eternals as a standalone epic – something closer to The Lord of the Rings or even a prestige sci-fi like Dune – it might have been received more favorably. The DNA was already there.

Instead, the marketing emphasized that Eternals was the next chapter of the MCU, setting expectations that it would fit seamlessly into the superhero mold. When it didn’t, it was disappointing rather than intriguing. Even the Deviants, ostensibly the main antagonists, suffered from this idenтιтy crisis.

They became little more than CGI monsters to fight, undercutting the movie’s deeper themes. If Marvel had allowed Zhao to drop the conventional structure entirely, the Eternals’ internal conflict could have taken center stage. The film already hinted that the real enemy was blind obedience to cosmic orders, and that the family dynamic was the true battlefield.

In many ways, Eternals reflects the tension at the heart of Marvel’s Phase 4: a desire to branch out with new tones and genres, but the reluctance to stray from a superhero movie. If Eternals had been allowed to stand apart, it might be remembered as one of Marvel’s greatest risks and most rewarding experiments.