Today marks exactly two years to the day since the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Eternals hit theaters, and it would be fair to say the movie has a somewhat complicated legacy already.
Riding a wave of hype as the franchise’s first feature to be helmed by a filmmaker with an Academy Award for Best Director under their belt – something the marketing wouldn’t let you forget – Chloe Zhao’s millennia-spanning epic fared admirably by the standards of the pandemic by clearing $400 million at the box office.
However, it secured an unwanted place in the history books as the MCU’s first-ever movie to be designated as “Rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes, but you don’t have to travel too far to find somebody who’ll vehemently disagree with that sentiment, seeing as Eternals continues fighting its case to be deemed as an underrated and unappreciated gem among the superhero sandbox’s back catalogue instead.
730 days removed, though, and there’s absolutely no sign of any of its characters making a full-fledged return to the screen, never mind a full-blown sequel. It may have been released two months after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and he hasn’t reappeared yet, either, but Simu Liu is at least guaranteed a second outing and a pivotal role in at least one of the two incoming Avengers epics.
As for Eternals? Well, Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo has popped up repeatedly as a background Easter Egg, and the only other MCU project it’s directly tethered to is Blade thanks to Mahershala Ali’s voice-only cameo in the post-credits, which isn’t exactly an indicator that the studio has high hopes for the titular team.