Eternals 2 In Danger Of Being Cancelled?
Could Eternals 2 already be in danger of getting canceled? There is starting to be some mounting evidence we don't get a sequel.
This article is more than 2 years old
Despite its all-star cast and position at a very auspicious time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s lifetime, Eternals 2 may not be a foregone conclusion. That would seem like almost an impossibility considering the size and scope of this upcoming film, but there are starting to be some warning signs that it might not happen.
Recently, in an interview with the Toronto Sun (via ScreenRant), producer Nate Moore had some somewhat ominous and definitely non-commital words about whether Eternals 2 was in the pipeline. He said, “It’s not something that is a must-have…Obviously, we have ideas of where we could go, but there isn’t a hard and fast rule where we have to have three of these things and this is the first.” This doesn’t exactly sound like someone who is fast-tracking a sequel into production. In fact, it sounds like quite the opposite.
It may be hard to imagine Marvel debuting a movie like Eternals and not letting Eternals 2 be put in the pipeline immediately after. Literally, almost every movie in the franchise gets a sequel. Noteworthy exceptions include The Incredible Hulk, which saw its main star depart the franchise only to be recast in The Avengers. Meanwhile, there’s currently no word on a sequel to Black Widow. However, given how much trouble that caused Disney and Marvel behind-the-scenes, and the fact that the character is straight-up dead, that stands to reason.
It doesn’t help that it is currently the lowest-rated Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date, even dropping below Thor: The Dark World, which for anyone who has seen that movie is saying something (It’s like if the noise “oof” were a movie). Still, despite the low ratings for Thor: The Dark World we still got Thor: Ragnarok, which is arguably one of the best installments in the franchise. So perhaps there’s hope that Marvel will learn from that experience at greenlight Eternals 2 anyway.
Then again, it’s naive to not acknowledge that Eternals is a completely different beast than other MCU movies. Not since Guardians of the Galaxy has an entire team been introduced in a standalone movie. With its all-star, A-list cast, there’s a lot that would go into an Eternals 2 than just getting Chris Hemsworth or Robert Downey Jr. on board. If one member of the team is missing, the whole thing goes to hell. While it’s standard practice for the studio to get its actors on board with contracts for multiple movies, perhaps it doesn’t want to foot the bill for another major gathering of stars when the first film was a bit of a dud among critics.
Eternals is the latest installment in the ever-growing Marvel-connected franchise of films and TV. Based on characters first introduced into Marvel Comics in the 1970s, the film from the director of best-picture Nomadland, Chloe Zhao, follows a group of ancient, immortal beings who were sent to Earth to protect it from cosmic predators called the Deviants. The film is an ambitious venture even for Marvel as it introduces a ton of very complex heroes to an already overstuffed world. Unfortunately, that boat may have already spelled disaster for the chances of an Eternals 2.
Fortunately, there’s still hope for Eternals 2 in that critics don’t dictate the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe half as much as fans. When the movie hits theaters on Nov. 5, it’s possible crowds will disagree with the average film critic and propel Marvel’s newest (but canonically oldest) super team to new heights. Regardless, these characters are officially canon. So, even if they don’t show up together in a sequel, each one could pop up in subsequent Marvel projects, which is the beauty of this franchise.
