Will 'The Eternals' Be Marvel's Most Careless Mistake?

Having to place exposition in a comic book movie might point to box office disaster, but it might be a different story in upcoming MCU film The Eternals.

Even though these characters haven’t been introduced yet in the MCU, it’s a good bet they’ll become the next iconic superheroes on the big screen.

The reasons behind this are because the origin story of The Eternals is truly epic, almost on a biblical scale. Much of the background of how they came to be is somewhat metaphorical in a biblical sense as well as relating to all-powerful beings.

As created by The Celestials, The Eternals were intended to be made as guardians of Earth.

What happened afterward was similar to a fallen angels story. Yet, that’s heady territory for an MCU film, which could prove a creative risk.

Kevin Feige will likely avoid too much backstory explanation

There’s a lot to tell about the origins of The Eternals. Because it involves The Celestials first, it’s been confirmed latter will appear in the film. Marvel fans on Reddit are crazy with excitement about this because not all of The Celestials have been seen on the big screen yet.

A few references to them have appeared in past MCU movies, most notably Ego the Living Planet, who’s Peter Quill’s father. As any Marvel fan knows, Peter Quill/Star-Lord gained some Celestial abilities, outside of being related to numerous alien races.

It’s possible Ego will play a part in The Eternals movie as another example of Marvel’s use of the flashback film to fill in backstory. Let’s also not forget there was a dead Celestial known as Knowhere whose large skull was found during Guardians of the Galaxy. Much mystery surrounds this Celestial as well, giving a chance to fill this in through The Eternals.

Then there are The Eternals themselves who are just as fascinating and mysterious. No references have been made to them so far, creating a major creative challenge for Kevin Feige. Knowing him, he won’t make their origin story boring. However, it might take a good hour to set up their story.

MCU audiences are used to fast-paced action and no filler

How Feige will showcase the birth of The Eternals will be interesting to see. He’s already managed to show the origins of past Marvel characters in ways that don’t require endless details.

Nevertheless, the story behind The Eternals is one making this the first MCU film to play almost like a biblical epic. The Celestials are godlike figures who act as a metaphor for spiritual creators of the universe, Earth, and many Marvel superheroes. The Eternals are like biblical angels who ultimately end up splitting apart.

The Deviants are the other half of The Eternals who become like fallen angels. They end up being the foes of The Eternals, creating an epic setup spanning thousands of years.

No wonder Kevin Feige realizes it’s a risky endeavor because it’s dealing with the basic historical foundations of Marvel characters. No doubt it won’t be weighted down by taking itself too seriously.

This may be Marvel’s answer to ‘Star Wars‘ and origins of the Force

Some irony exists on Marvel and Star Wars both being owned by Disney when they both have powerful origin stories. The Celestials are like the mysterious ancient energy field in Star Wars originating the Force and created a domino effect of a massive saga spanning eons.

Regardless, let’s hope The Eternals doesn’t operate like a Star Wars prequel. Outside of more respect being garnered for the latter prequels in recent years, the amount of time it took to explain backstory didn’t do it any favors when first released.

Leaving some backstories a mystery can do more good than be overly literal. With The Eternals, their origin story may be interesting enough where it turns into a sprawling epic, leaving everyone wowed thanks to the tremendous power of the characters. An unlimited budget makes this a given, not including Feige’s strong realization of a good script being a film’s true heart.

Source: Read Full Article