Marvel’s Eternals Reactions Are Not What Fans Expected
Some early reactions to Eternals are in and they might not totally be what fans expect. This movie could go a couple of different ways
This article is more than 2 years old
As far as fan excitement and universe-altering implications, Eternals has to be one of the more anticipated Marvel movies in recent memory. Not only does it have a massive, star-studded cast and award-winning director at the helm, but it is also set to introduce a whole new set of characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in one fell swoop. This is already lining up to be a very different kind of Marvel production. And this week, the first screening of Eternals went down with their red carpet event. Though there is an embargo on actual reviews, some early opinions have come out and they are surprisingly mixed.
Judging by some fan reactions that have cropped up online as well as some sneaky-critic opinions, Eternals might not be for every Marvel fan out there. While there was some pretty high praise for what people ended up seeing, there could be some problematic elements as well. One anonymous take on World of Reel, stemming from a press screening for the movie, called it a “stinker” and “bad”. Though this person did admit to not being a huge Marvel fan to begin with and also said that critics were likely to treat it positively.
And then there were some of the online reactions to Eternals which trended in a much different direction. If we are to take these as more of a proxy to how the great world of Marvel fandom will see the flick, then it looks like we have something pretty great coming down the pike. Though there were a couple of at least minor concerns from even the most ardent of fans.
This is near-universal praise from fans who got a chance to see the Eternals screening. Most were in line with the visuals and cinematography being on point for the film, something we got the sense from when the early trailers hit. Chloe Zhao appears to have taken the Marvel Universe, at least from a production standpoint, up a notch here and most fans (not all) readily agreed with that sentiment. For a franchise that has lived on big screen spectacle for more than a decade now, it sure seems like Eternals something even more on that level.
Fans were also enamored with the star power in Eternals. It’s a massive cast with huge names like Angelina Jolie and Selma Hayek making appearances, but also seemingly carried by Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, and some others. Where other Marvel productions have begun with solo films only to unite characters in bigger productions later, this one takes the opposite approach: giving us a whole new team right out of the gate.
One criticism for Eternals that did come through from fans though was the run-time. The flick is ringing in at a whopping 157 minutes which would make it the second-longest Marvel movie yet after Avengers: Endgame (181 minutes). The word “drag” was used a couple of times to describe different points of the film and this one could be a slower pace than we are used to seeing in the franchise.
Fans will soon be able to judge for themselves. Eternals is set to hit the big screen in the United States on November 5th. We could be in for one of the biggest movies to come around for Marvel.
