Eternals is posed to be a game-changer in the MCU, particularly because it’s set to introduce a group of eternal beings, who have, by definition, been around for most of the big events fans have seen, and many that fans haven’t. This means that the movie can be both a way to offer a fresh perspective of previous events, and a way to examine what, if any, influence these Eternals have had in the MCU thus far.
So much has happened since the Eternals first came to Earth. Though the information available offers us no official timeline, it’s easy to see just from the trailer that the Eternals have been around for centuries. This means that the Eternals have been around for much of civilization, and presumably, not stayed in the sidelines. Which begs the question of how much of what the world looks like today is due to their involvement. Not only that, it brings up the question of whether the Eternals have, in some way, intervened in the MCU events presented thus far.
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There’s little reason to introduce a race of eternal beings who have been established as being present on Earth without using them to provide some perspective on the past – be it historical events, or the more recent MCU past. In fact, with the MCU leaning heavily on stories that expand what people thought they knew, this would be on par for the course. The recent Disney+ Marvel shows, in particular, have been used to give depth to stories, and characters, who had not been previously explored as much in the feature films. The introduction of the Eternals can bring about the same type of storylines, by providing an alternate perspective to events people have already seen. After all, just because fans hadn’t seen them before doesn’t mean they weren’t working in the shadows to help – or maybe guide the narrative, one way or another.
This is a good way to both give depth to stories that have already been told in one way, and also, tie these new characters to situations and characters fans are already familiar with. Of course, not all MCU events are big enough to warrant Eternals intervention. There’s no reason for them to intervene in the creation of the Iron Man suit, or the backstory of most of the Avengers, for example. It’s harder to justify no involvement in events like the battle of New York, or Thanos literally wiping out half the universe, however, considering the far-reaching implications of these events.
Marvel hasn’t indicated how the Eternals will co-exist with other storylines, or even if they will, but the trailer does establish they know of the Avengers in more than a casual way. Not just that, the trailer makes clear the Eternals are well aware of the consequences of the Infinity War. It could just be a throwaway line, after all, after the events of the last two Avengers movies, in particular, it would make sense for the Avengers to be known worldwide. But after setting up the Eternals as less than passive observers, and showing the ways they have already helped direct humanity, it would be more surprising to learn they stayed completely in the sidelines during the Infinity War than to learn it was the other way around.
Their involvement doesn’t even have to be significant, and Marvel could easily explain their absence by having them be deliberate in their choice to stay away from the spotlight. The Eternals do have, after all, some experience in shaping historical events, and not really getting credit for it. The trailer places them at the Gates of Babylon, and then, presumably, at the Fall of Babylon. Whatever they did or didn’t do to affect history there, the world went on to tell that story without ever mentioning them. This, of course, brings up another important question: if the Eternals have truly intervened in many important historical events without revealing themselves, what is the magnitude of the threat the Deviants present now that they’re willing to step into the spotlight?
All of these are important questions that fans will hopefully get answers to when the movie finally premieres on November 5th. Whatever the answer to that last question might be, though, Marvel has a huge opportunity to re-tread and re-frame old storylines with Eternals. This could be used as a way to reintroduce some characters and storylines that had previously been thought abandoned. If Loki has proven something, it’s that the MCU can actually handle two versions of the same character with two very distinct stories. Between that and the multiverse, there really is no limit to what stories Marvel can tell going forward.
This makes the possibilities Eternals brings to the table just that, fun possibilities. Eternals doesn’t need to fix the MCU, or redefine it. WandaVision, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier and Loki have already done that. All Eternals needs to do is give a different perspective to some familiar events. And if some new storytelling possibilities are opened because of that, that’s just icing on the Marvel cake at this point.
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