âčïž Skipped - page is already crawled
| Filter | Status | Condition | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP status | PASS | download_http_code = 200 | HTTP 200 |
| Age cutoff | PASS | download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH | 3.4 months ago |
| History drop | PASS | isNull(history_drop_reason) | No drop reason |
| Spam/ban | PASS | fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0 | ml_spam_score=0 |
| Canonical | PASS | meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed | Not set |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| URL | https://collider.com/eternals-review-marvel-mcu/ |
| Last Crawled | 2025-12-29 17:47:29 (3 months ago) |
| First Indexed | 2021-10-26 15:53:23 (4 years ago) |
| HTTP Status Code | 200 |
| Meta Title | Eternals Review: Slamming Against the Limits of Superhero Cinema |
| Meta Description | Matt Goldberg reviews Chloé Zhao's Eternals starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Angelina Jolie. |
| Meta Canonical | null |
| Boilerpipe Text | Image via Marvel
Published
Oct 26, 2021
Matt Goldberg has been an editor with Collider since 2007. As the site's Chief Film Critic, he has authored hundreds of reviews and covered major film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and their dog Jack.
Sign in to your
Collider
account
Superhero movies cannot be all things to all people. While Marvel Studios likes to pride itself on how its films can jump between genres so that something like
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
can be a âparanoid political thrillerâ and
Guardians of the Galaxy
can be a sci-fi romp through the cosmos, theyâre still operating under the dictates of the superhero genre. That means there are clear heroes and villains, superpowers to dominate an external threat, and a need to save at least a planet if not a galaxy or the entire universe. A Marvel movie, by its very nature, can only go so far before it's reined in by these dictates, which makes
Chloé Zhao
âs
Eternals
an exceptionally frustrating movie. In each character, you can feel a far more interesting narrative straining to get out, but at the end of the day, the genre mandates the use of superpowers to defeat a threat to humanity. What should be the core of this movieâwhat it would mean to witness thousands of years of civilization and your contributions to itâinstead becomes window-dressing to a typical superhero narrative where superpowered beings have to defeat some world-ending threat.
In the beginning, there were the Celestials, who sent out warriors known as Eternals to clear away monsters known as Deviants. The Celestial Arishem sent a group of Eternals from the planet Olympia to Earth. Arriving on Earth in the year 5,000 BCE, the Eternals, comprised of leader Ajak (
Salma Hayek
), Ikaris (
Richard Madden
), Sersi (
Gemma Chan
), Thena (
Angelina Jolie
), Kingo (
Kumail Nanjiani
), Phastos (
Brian Tyree Henry
), Sprite (
Lia McHugh
), Druig (
Barry Keoghan
), Makkari (
Lauren Ridloff
), and Gilgamesh (
Don Lee
), each member has their own power that allows them to protect humanity and defeat Deviants. Instructed to never interfere with human affairs so that humanity has a chance to evolve on its own, the Eternals eventually grow apart until the Deviants returns in the present day and the group is forced to come back together to defeat their old foe.
Image via Marvel Studios
Eternals feels like Marvelâs most ambitious project crammed into the span of a 157-minute movie. I hate to be the âIt should have been a TV seriesâ guy, but maybe it should have been a TV series because everything here is largely abbreviated. For example, Ikaris and Sersi were in love with each other and married, but they broke up about a hundred years ago, and now Sersi is seeing the human Dane Whitman (
Kit Harington
). Sersi and Ikarisâ feelings for each other are largely shorthand, letting us know that there are some lingering emotions, but any texture of their relationship or really showing us a love story that has spanned thousands of years doesnât have time to make the final cut.
This abbreviation moves through all of the characters and leaves you wishing you could spend more time with them rather than getting the CliffsNotes version of their epic inner turmoil. Each character really only gives you a glimpse of something greater. For Sprite, whoâs doomed to look like a child, she longs for the benefit of living among humans to the full extent of adult relationships. For Phastos, who has the ability to invent anything, he has seen how human technological progression has wrought massive destruction, and wonders if weâre even worth saving if our creations only bring about mass casualties. For Druig, who has the power to control minds, he toys with the idea of creating a zombie utopia where humans lack free will but also donât slaughter each other en masse. For Thena, sheâs the greatest warrior in history, but sheâs suffering from a degenerative mental illness called âMahd Wy'ryâ (pronounced âMad Wearyâ) that makes her unable to distinguish between friend and foe. What if you could live forever, but were plagued by disease? How would you continue to live your life?
Image via Marvel Studios
These are all fascinating questions, and
Eternals
simply does not have time to dwell on them. They linger in the background, inviting us to think more about them, but then the plot taps its watch, says itâs time to move on, and then weâre on to fighting Deviants. If you strip away the superhero stuff, you have a fascinating assemblage of narratives that Iâd love to see play out, but this is a Marvel movie, and Marvel movies are superhero stories. I like Marvel movies and theyâre indisputably one of the most successful studios of all time, but they only make one thing. They may dress that thing up in different colors, but at its core, it must be a superhero movie. For all of its narrative twists and turns (and there are some really cool reveals in
Eternals
), the film still has to build up to good guys using their extraordinary abilities to save humanity.
In that limiting framework, you can see
Eternals
struggle valiantly to be more than just another MCU entry, and while it certainly feels different than your typical MCU movie (references to other Marvel movies are kept mercifully brief), it also feels limited by its genre and framework. It would have been great to see a series about immortal begins wrestling with their relationship to humanity on the brink of a world-ending calamity, but Marvel canât and wonât make that series because
Eternals
needs to continue, the world can never end, and Marvel characters are designed to make sure the world is saved.
Eternals
adds in a few neat wrinkles here and there, but the bigger questions at the heart of these characters are eventually pushed to the wayside because the plot has to keep moving forward to its climactic battle.
Image via Marvel
And thatâs a shame because the battle stuff is nowhere close to the best part of
Eternals
. In terms of pacing and action,
Eternals
is a real letdown. The plot keeps stuttering forward as it unloads heaps of exposition, jumps between the present and the past, and continually reintroduces characters when it would be so much better to simply settle down and really get to know the Eternals as individuals. Whenever itâs time for an action scene, almost all of the air goes out of the picture because even though the Eternals have neat abilities and the movie tries to create a Main Deviant with some semblance of a belief system, itâs still superheroes using CGI to fight CGI monsters. Perhaps if these set pieces were more exciting, that would be one thing, but theyâre largely forgettable and also not particularly well lit (thereâs one action scene in the Amazon thatâs almost monochrome with how dim the lighting gets).
Despite these glaring flaws, I canât simply write off
Eternals
as forgettable. The film is willing to tackle such heady notions of faith, predestination, devotion, and heresy that to say itâs just another superhero movie would be way off the mark. The problem is that
Eternals
is a far more interesting film trapped in the body of a superhero movie, and those limitations neuter what could have been a heady, thrilling experience if not for what the film has to do both in its genre and as part of the MCU. That means it drags, has perfunctory action scenes, and no time to explore the most interesting facets of its narrative. You can assemble an amazing cast and hire one of the best directors working today, but theyâre no match for what a Marvel movie must do to be a Marvel movie.
Rating: C+
KEEP READING:
New âEternalsâ Featurette Explores How ChloĂ© Zhao Brought the MCU Film to Life |
| Markdown | Menu
[](https://collider.com/)
Sign in now
Close
- - [Movies](https://collider.com/movies/)
Submenu
- [Movie News](https://collider.com/movie-news/)
- [Movie Features](https://collider.com/movie-features/)
- [TV](https://collider.com/tv/)
Submenu
- [TV News](https://collider.com/tv-news/)
- [TV Features](https://collider.com/tv-features/)
- [Collider Signature](https://collider.com/collider-signature/)
- [Streaming Guides](https://collider.com/streaming-guides/)
Submenu
- [Netflix](https://collider.com/netflix/)
- [Amazon](https://collider.com/amazon/)
- [Disney+](https://collider.com/disney/)
- [Max](https://collider.com/max/)
- [Hulu](https://collider.com/hulu/)
- [Apple TV+](https://collider.com/apple-tv-plus/)
- [Lists](https://collider.com/tag/lists/)
- [Reality TV](https://collider.com/reality-tv/)
- [Reviews](https://collider.com/all-reviews/)
- [Interviews](https://collider.com/interviews/)
- [Trailers](https://collider.com/trailers/)
- [Videos](https://collider.com/videos/)
- [Got A Pitch?](https://collider.com/page/submit-a-pitch/)
- [Sign in](https://collider.com/eternals-review-marvel-mcu/)
- [Newsletter](https://collider.com/page/newsletter/)
Menu
[](https://collider.com/)
Follow
Followed
Like
More Action
Sign in now
[Screen Awards](https://screenrant.com/page/screen-awards/)
[Got A Pitch?](https://collider.com/page/submit-a-pitch/)
[Videos](https://collider.com/videos/)
[2025 Movie Releases](https://collider.com/most-anticipated-movies-2025/)
[Screenings](https://collider.com/screening/)
[What to Watch](https://collider.com/what-to-watch/)
[Originals](https://collider.com/cl-originals/)
[Reviews](https://collider.com/all-reviews/)
Close
# Eternals Review: Slamming Against the Limits of Superhero Cinema
Richard Madden in Eternals
Image via Marvel
[](https://collider.com/author/matt-goldberg/)
By [Matt Goldberg](https://collider.com/author/matt-goldberg/)
Published Oct 26, 2021
Matt Goldberg has been an editor with Collider since 2007. As the site's Chief Film Critic, he has authored hundreds of reviews and covered major film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and their dog Jack.
[Sign in to your Collider account]()
[Add Us On](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=collider.com "Add Us On")
follow
Follow
followed
Followed
Like
Like
Log in
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
Try something different:
Show me the facts
Explain it like Iâm 5
Give me a lighthearted recap
Superhero movies cannot be all things to all people. While Marvel Studios likes to pride itself on how its films can jump between genres so that something like ***Captain America: The Winter Soldier*** can be a âparanoid political thrillerâ and ***Guardians of the Galaxy*** can be a sci-fi romp through the cosmos, theyâre still operating under the dictates of the superhero genre. That means there are clear heroes and villains, superpowers to dominate an external threat, and a need to save at least a planet if not a galaxy or the entire universe. A Marvel movie, by its very nature, can only go so far before it's reined in by these dictates, which makes **ChloĂ© Zhao**âs ***Eternals*** an exceptionally frustrating movie. In each character, you can feel a far more interesting narrative straining to get out, but at the end of the day, the genre mandates the use of superpowers to defeat a threat to humanity. What should be the core of this movieâwhat it would mean to witness thousands of years of civilization and your contributions to itâinstead becomes window-dressing to a typical superhero narrative where superpowered beings have to defeat some world-ending threat.
In the beginning, there were the Celestials, who sent out warriors known as Eternals to clear away monsters known as Deviants. The Celestial Arishem sent a group of Eternals from the planet Olympia to Earth. Arriving on Earth in the year 5,000 BCE, the Eternals, comprised of leader Ajak (**Salma Hayek**), Ikaris (**Richard Madden**), Sersi (**Gemma Chan**), Thena (**Angelina Jolie**), Kingo (**Kumail Nanjiani**), Phastos (**Brian Tyree Henry**), Sprite (**Lia McHugh**), Druig (**Barry Keoghan**), Makkari (**Lauren Ridloff**), and Gilgamesh (**Don Lee**), each member has their own power that allows them to protect humanity and defeat Deviants. Instructed to never interfere with human affairs so that humanity has a chance to evolve on its own, the Eternals eventually grow apart until the Deviants returns in the present day and the group is forced to come back together to defeat their old foe.
Marvel's Eternals Teaser Trailer
Image via Marvel Studios
RELATED: [Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek on Who Would Have Won if the âEternalsâ Had Fought Thanos](https://collider.com/eternals-angelina-jolie-salma-hayek-interview/)
Eternals feels like Marvelâs most ambitious project crammed into the span of a 157-minute movie. I hate to be the âIt should have been a TV seriesâ guy, but maybe it should have been a TV series because everything here is largely abbreviated. For example, Ikaris and Sersi were in love with each other and married, but they broke up about a hundred years ago, and now Sersi is seeing the human Dane Whitman (**Kit Harington**). Sersi and Ikarisâ feelings for each other are largely shorthand, letting us know that there are some lingering emotions, but any texture of their relationship or really showing us a love story that has spanned thousands of years doesnât have time to make the final cut.
This abbreviation moves through all of the characters and leaves you wishing you could spend more time with them rather than getting the CliffsNotes version of their epic inner turmoil. Each character really only gives you a glimpse of something greater. For Sprite, whoâs doomed to look like a child, she longs for the benefit of living among humans to the full extent of adult relationships. For Phastos, who has the ability to invent anything, he has seen how human technological progression has wrought massive destruction, and wonders if weâre even worth saving if our creations only bring about mass casualties. For Druig, who has the power to control minds, he toys with the idea of creating a zombie utopia where humans lack free will but also donât slaughter each other en masse. For Thena, sheâs the greatest warrior in history, but sheâs suffering from a degenerative mental illness called âMahd Wy'ryâ (pronounced âMad Wearyâ) that makes her unable to distinguish between friend and foe. What if you could live forever, but were plagued by disease? How would you continue to live your life?
Gemma Chan and Richard Madden in Eternals
Image via Marvel Studios
These are all fascinating questions, and *Eternals* simply does not have time to dwell on them. They linger in the background, inviting us to think more about them, but then the plot taps its watch, says itâs time to move on, and then weâre on to fighting Deviants. If you strip away the superhero stuff, you have a fascinating assemblage of narratives that Iâd love to see play out, but this is a Marvel movie, and Marvel movies are superhero stories. I like Marvel movies and theyâre indisputably one of the most successful studios of all time, but they only make one thing. They may dress that thing up in different colors, but at its core, it must be a superhero movie. For all of its narrative twists and turns (and there are some really cool reveals in *Eternals*), the film still has to build up to good guys using their extraordinary abilities to save humanity.
In that limiting framework, you can see *Eternals* struggle valiantly to be more than just another MCU entry, and while it certainly feels different than your typical MCU movie (references to other Marvel movies are kept mercifully brief), it also feels limited by its genre and framework. It would have been great to see a series about immortal begins wrestling with their relationship to humanity on the brink of a world-ending calamity, but Marvel canât and wonât make that series because *Eternals* needs to continue, the world can never end, and Marvel characters are designed to make sure the world is saved. *Eternals* adds in a few neat wrinkles here and there, but the bigger questions at the heart of these characters are eventually pushed to the wayside because the plot has to keep moving forward to its climactic battle.
Lauren Ridloff Eternals
Image via Marvel
And thatâs a shame because the battle stuff is nowhere close to the best part of *Eternals*. In terms of pacing and action, *Eternals* is a real letdown. The plot keeps stuttering forward as it unloads heaps of exposition, jumps between the present and the past, and continually reintroduces characters when it would be so much better to simply settle down and really get to know the Eternals as individuals. Whenever itâs time for an action scene, almost all of the air goes out of the picture because even though the Eternals have neat abilities and the movie tries to create a Main Deviant with some semblance of a belief system, itâs still superheroes using CGI to fight CGI monsters. Perhaps if these set pieces were more exciting, that would be one thing, but theyâre largely forgettable and also not particularly well lit (thereâs one action scene in the Amazon thatâs almost monochrome with how dim the lighting gets).
Despite these glaring flaws, I canât simply write off *Eternals* as forgettable. The film is willing to tackle such heady notions of faith, predestination, devotion, and heresy that to say itâs just another superhero movie would be way off the mark. The problem is that *Eternals* is a far more interesting film trapped in the body of a superhero movie, and those limitations neuter what could have been a heady, thrilling experience if not for what the film has to do both in its genre and as part of the MCU. That means it drags, has perfunctory action scenes, and no time to explore the most interesting facets of its narrative. You can assemble an amazing cast and hire one of the best directors working today, but theyâre no match for what a Marvel movie must do to be a Marvel movie.
### CL Report
Dive into the world of entertainment with Collider, delivering the latest news, reviews, and exclusive updates from movies, TV, and pop culture
Subscribe
### CL Report
Dive into the world of entertainment with Collider, delivering the latest news, reviews, and exclusive updates from movies, TV, and pop culture
***
Subscribe
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnetâs [Terms of Use](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/terms-of-use) and [Privacy Policy](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/privacy-policy). You can unsubscribe anytime.
Rating: C+
KEEP READING: [New âEternalsâ Featurette Explores How ChloĂ© Zhao Brought the MCU Film to Life](https://collider.com/eternals-how-chloe-zhao-made-mcu-movie-video/)
- [Reviews](https://collider.com/all-reviews/ "Reviews")
- [Movie](https://collider.com/movie/ "Movie")
- [Eternals](https://collider.com/tag/eternals/ "Eternals")
Follow
Followed
Like
Share
[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F%2F&src=sdkpreparse) [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%98Eternals%E2%80%99%20Review%3A%20An%20Ambitious%20Narrative%20Slams%20Against%20the%20Limits%20of%20Superhero%20Cinema&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F) [WhatsApp](https://web.whatsapp.com/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F) [Threads](https://www.threads.net/intent/post?text=%E2%80%98Eternals%E2%80%99%20Review%3A%20An%20Ambitious%20Narrative%20Slams%20Against%20the%20Limits%20of%20Superhero%20Cinema%20https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F) [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F&title=%E2%80%98Eternals%E2%80%99%20Review%3A%20An%20Ambitious%20Narrative%20Slams%20Against%20the%20Limits%20of%20Superhero%20Cinema&source=collider.com&summary=There%20are%20seeds%20of%20so%20many%20interesting%20stories%20in%20Chlo%C3%A9%20Zhao%E2%80%99s%20movie%2C%20but%20they%E2%80%99re%20marginalized%20by%20the%20dictates%20of%20the%20superhero%20genre.) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F) [Flipboard](http://share.flipboard.com/bookmarklet/popout?v=2&title=%E2%80%98Eternals%E2%80%99%20Review%3A%20An%20Ambitious%20Narrative%20Slams%20Against%20the%20Limits%20of%20Superhero%20Cinema&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Feternals-review-marvel-mcu%2F&utm_campaign=tools&utm_medium=article-share&utm_source=collider.com) [Copy link]() [Email](<mailto:?Subject=âEternalsâ Review: An Ambitious Narrative Slams Against the Limits of Superhero Cinema&Body=Check%20this%20out%21%0Ahttps://collider.com/eternals-review-marvel-mcu/>)
Close
### What To Watch
[ July 20, 2025 The 72 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now](https://collider.com/best-movies-on-netflix-streaming/)
Trending Now
[](https://collider.com/jennifer-lawrence-1970s-crime-movie-american-hustle-paramount-plus-streaming-success-december-2025/)
##### [12 Years Later, Jennifer Lawrence's Star-Studded Heist Movie Is a Shocking Streaming Hit](https://collider.com/jennifer-lawrence-1970s-crime-movie-american-hustle-paramount-plus-streaming-success-december-2025/ "12 Years Later, Jennifer Lawrence's Star-Studded Heist Movie Is a Shocking Streaming Hit")
[](https://collider.com/best-2010s-tv-shows-finales-ranked/)
##### [The 10 Greatest Finales From 2010s TV Shows, Ranked (\#1 Is Actually Flawless)](https://collider.com/best-2010s-tv-shows-finales-ranked/ "The 10 Greatest Finales From 2010s TV Shows, Ranked (#1 Is Actually Flawless)")
[](https://collider.com/we-bury-the-dead-daisy-ridley-zombie-horror-movie-image/)
##### [Daisy Ridley Faces Her Darkest Fear in New First Look at Zombie Thriller âWe Bury the Deadâ \[Exclusive\]](https://collider.com/we-bury-the-dead-daisy-ridley-zombie-horror-movie-image/ "Daisy Ridley Faces Her Darkest Fear in New First Look at Zombie Thriller âWe Bury the Deadâ [Exclusive]")
Recommended
[](https://collider.com/best-movie-trilogies-every-film-is-a-must-watch/)
3 days ago
### [10 Movie Trilogies Where Every Film Is a Must-Watch](https://collider.com/best-movie-trilogies-every-film-is-a-must-watch/ "10 Movie Trilogies Where Every Film Is a Must-Watch")
[](https://collider.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-overtakes-matt-damon-sci-fi-masterpiece-the-martian-box-office-213-million/)
2 days ago
### [âAvatar: Fire and Ashâ Reduces Matt Damonâs Sci-Fi Masterpiece to Rubble at the Box Office](https://collider.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-overtakes-matt-damon-sci-fi-masterpiece-the-martian-box-office-213-million/ "âAvatar: Fire and Ashâ Reduces Matt Damonâs Sci-Fi Masterpiece to Rubble at the Box Office")
[](https://collider.com/tom-hanks-ww2-naval-classic-greyhound-apple-tv-streaming-success-december-2025/)
5 days ago
### [5 Years Later, a WWII Naval Classic Is Quietly Blowing Up on Streaming](https://collider.com/tom-hanks-ww2-naval-classic-greyhound-apple-tv-streaming-success-december-2025/ "5 Years Later, a WWII Naval Classic Is Quietly Blowing Up on Streaming")
[](https://collider.com/every-stephen-king-novel-ranked/)
3 days ago
### [Every Stephen King Novel, Ranked](https://collider.com/every-stephen-king-novel-ranked/ "Every Stephen King Novel, Ranked")
[](https://collider.com/)
- [Join Our Team](https://collider.com/work-with-us/)
- [Our Audience](https://collider.com/page/advertise/)
- [About Us](https://collider.com/page/about/)
- [Press & Events](https://collider.com/page/press-events/)
- [Media Coverage](https://collider.com/page/media/)
- [Contact Us](https://collider.com/contact/)
- Follow Us
[](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/)
- [Advertising](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/advertising)
- [Careers](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/careers)
- [Terms](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/terms-of-use)
- [Privacy](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/privacy-policy)
- [Policies](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/editorial-integrity)
[Collider](https://collider.com/) is part of the [Valnet Publishing Group](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/)
Copyright © 2025 Valnet Inc. |
| Readable Markdown | null |
| Shard | 93 (laksa) |
| Root Hash | 10586186313488589693 |
| Unparsed URL | com,collider!/eternals-review-marvel-mcu/ s443 |