SPOILERS AHEAD!
Last week, my boyfriend and I watched Marvel’s Eternals movie in theaters. I am remotely new to watching the Marvel cinematic universe and had never heard of the Eternals comics, so I had no idea what to expect. Despite my lack of knowledge, however, I found that I was able to follow the film and observe a variety of themes take place throughout the plot. If you have yet to see this movie and don’t want any spoilers, now would be a good time to click away. Without further ado, here are my personal takeaways from the film.
Eternals Has Strong Female Leaders
When the movie first starts, the audience meets Ajak, the leader of a group of immortal beings known as the Eternals. She was known as a messenger to Arishem, the god who assigned her and the Eternals to come to Earth and protect it from Deviants. She was also serving as a mother figure, healer, confidant, and protector of her comrades. When she died, however, she opted to look past the most powerful being, Ikaris, and appoint Sersi as the next leader of the Eternals. This power shift not only contradicted the initial Eternals comics, but highlighted the potential of recreating a story to be female-dominated in a way that empowered the female audience.
POC Representation
In addition to this strong female representation, Marvel’s Eternals succeeded in casting people from all walks of life to provide cultural diversity to this movie. From Gemma Chan’s strong performance as Sersi, to Harish Patel’s comedic relief as Karun, there are a variety of different actors who brought light into each character they played. Additionally, the choice to cast Lauren Ridloff, a mixed, deaf woman as Makkari, brought another level of representation to those within the audience who are hard of hearing or deaf.
LGBTQIA+ Representation
While this was a brief scene in the movie, Marvel’s choice to integrate a gay couple within the film brought controversy to some countries and pride to others. The introduction of Phastos came with his initial skepticism of what the human race was capable of doing, however the love he showed for his husband and young son turned his life around and brought positivity to the standard family unit.
Greek Mythology/Tiamut in Religion
This was a thought provoking takeaway, as I am not too familiar with Greek mythology. However, it wasn’t difficult to hear the names, “Sersi,” “Ajak,” “Phastos,” “Makkari,” and other names that were affiliated with mythology. There was also the introduction of Tiamut (not to be confused by the League of Legends item or D&D god), a celestial being that acted as a servant to the universe as a whole. While not much is known about the being, this has parallels to the Babylonian god, Tiamat.
Also- IKARIS LITERALLY FLEW INTO THE SUN!
There are many other things that one can take away from this film, whether it be the application of the Hawkeye effect with female costumes or the mental health issues that Thena experienced throughout the film. Regardless, I hope to see these characters develop with time and make a substantial contribution to the Marvel cinematic universe as a whole.