Eternals Comes Up Short on Its Big Ambitions

Eternals feels like a dozen great directions you could take a Marvel ensemble crammed into a 2.5-hour picture. Director Chloé Zhao delivers a stirring and stunning drama of godlike beings confronting the passage of time, the cosmic scale of creation, and the enduring romance between beings that can exist forever. It also features perhaps the most diverse Marvel group ever, on multiple fronts.

Given all of this, it’s disheartening that such ambition doesn’t pay off.

Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) in Eternals. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

The general idea behind the Eternals is at least a compelling one: a collective of 10 human-looking beings with various powers is instructed by a gigantic cosmic being to protect the Earth from its early days of humans. Their goal is to fight back the beastly forces of the Deviants, nasty creatures of vicious teeth and claws. They’re warned not to interfere with any other conflict on Earth involving humans that would affect their own development of civilization. So if you’re looking for an answer as to why these elder superheroes were never present in past MCU movies, there’s the excuse.

The scope of this film is pretty vast. Told in a nonlinear fashion, the story jumps around from the early days of humanity’s growing tech to the present day. We get to watch how the centuries have changed these heroes from a band of powerful protectors to a bitter group that have gone their separate ways. Faith in humanity unsurprisingly plays a role in their breakup, but so does romance that is either lost or unfulfilled. As they quietly continue their war with the Deviants, the question of when their mission will be complete continues to haunt them.

Though most of the characters could easily just be boiled down to what powers they possess, a handful of them have some strong arcs. The centerpiece of the group is the coupling of the hopeful Sersi (Gemma Chan) and the sternly powerful Ikaris (Richard Madden). Their diverging views only drive them apart after a few thousand years of passion, including the MCU’s first (tame) sex scene. The conflict over their relationship makes them more interesting than just Sersi being the one who can transform matter and Ikaris the one who can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes.

Richard Madden as Ikaris. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

I only wish that the rest of the characters had this much depth, but the film unfortunately can’t perform the balancing act of the 10 central figures. Consider the character of Sprite (Lia McHugh), a forever-young kid who can create illusions. It’s easy enough to see the disdain he has for a world where he will always be seen as the runt of his group and a child to the rest of the world. What’s not as easy to see is a crush he has that he can’t confess. It seems obvious to a few characters, but it comes about inexplicably when one of the other Eternals has to blurt it out.

A much healthier relationship is between the mind manipulator Druig (Barry Keoghan) and the super-fast Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), who maintain a romance that is cute and rings true throughout the film. Even after an initial split, they hook up quite easily. Surprisingly, though, their romance doesn’t seem obvious to any of the other Eternals.

Salma Hayek as Ajak. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

And more compelling love can be felt with the fearful Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), a crafty inventor with energy powers that can create just about anything. He loses his faith in mankind in a big way and finds a way back to it when he marries and settles down with a son. There’s a touching story there, but we only get brief glimpses of this. That’s because compelling arcs such as this are reduced when bunched up next to the mental understanding of the traumatized Thena (Angelina Jolie), the stoic but terrified Gilgamesh (Don Lee), the charmingly comedic Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), and the motherly Ajak (Salma Hayek). There are so many characters to cover that the mysterious Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) barely gets five minutes in this towering epic.

Even having one-sixth the number of characters of Avengers: Endgame, there is just way too much going on in this film. Aside from so many people all having their own backstories, philosophies, and relationships both romantic and friendly, there are also the grand themes that loom over this picture. There are concepts of existentialism, cosmic dread, the challenges of utilitarianism, and even a deep questioning of spirituality where the Eternals practically have to battle God. Those are some hefty topics, and most of them are approached with a certain grace and plenty of surprises in the many twists taken. If only there were enough time to cover it all in detail instead of just feeling like everything and the decadent kitchen sink has been thrown at the screen.

As if all of that weren’t enough, this film also has a handful of major firsts for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phastos represents the first gay superhero in this universe, and it’s not at all pushed into the background—it’s actually pushed into the foreground with the brief showcasing of a quaint home life and an onscreen kiss. We also get the first Deaf superhero onscreen in Makkari, who communicates via sign language to her other Eternals with ease. Needless to say, this is one of the most diverse Marvel teams by miles.

Karun (Harish Patel), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Gilgamesh (Don Lee). Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

There’s a lot to love about this film, and I wish everything had connected well enough that I could appreciate it. Sadly, there’s a disjointed nature to how all these great ideas are stapled together in a hodgepodge of divergent ideas for a Marvel movie. There’s without question some admiration due for trying to craft a film that feels more somber than silly and more contemplative than fast-paced. It’s frustrating, though, that all of the ambition being shoved into this picture results in a bit of a mess that doesn’t have the time to find its greater emotional core.

Eternals is one of the more humanist MCU movies and is all the more tragic for never quite paying off. The sails were set for a new direction and a brave step forward, but the ship encountered more rocky waves as it struggled to hold itself together. Had this story been two or three movies—with enough time to let its gorgeous cinematography, intriguing characters, and bold themes break new ground—there’s a chance it could’ve been brilliant. As it stands, however, this film only manages to make a few cracks rather than shake the earth.

It brings me no pleasure to be unsatisfied by this film. But, much like the Eternals, I have hope for the future. There are some good choices here, and I hope they follow into future Marvel movies that will up the emotional resonance and hold back on the overstuffing of characters and arcs.