Action/adventure movies nowadays suck. However, Marvel’s Eternals finds a unique way to completely redesign this genre. Eternals follows ten god-like beings called “Eternals” sent to Earth for a mysterious and unknown reason. Throughout the Earth’s history we see them witness conflicts of war, greed, evolution, and natural disasters. These Eternals were sent to guide the evolution of humans; however, we soon learn there’s a darker meaning behind their upcoming.
The movie has an ambitious cast of characters, all bringing an interesting dynamic to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as well as Hollywood in general. We have never had such an arrangement of characters come to Hollywood’s big screen before, giving different cultures, disabilities, and sexualities the recognition and representation they deserve. The main characters are: Thena, Phastos, Sprite, Sersi, Ikeris, Ajax, Druig, Makkari, Kingo, and Gelgaish.
This arrangement of characters is ambitious in the way that they included actors from many different backgrounds. Diversity in the MCU has been long overdue. However, Eternals does a great job in introducing all the new characters, in addition to providing their background to get a sense of where they are coming from. The diversity in this film ranges from sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability, which allows these heroes to take their big moment on the big screen.
This movie showcases many firsts for Marvel studios, as the cast is the most diverse cast that has been seen in a Marvel-produced movie thus far. The way that Marvel included this diverse cast in this beautifully-created movie is impressive. This movie includes many firsts for Marvel. Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry is the first gay superhero. Marvel put the spotlight on Phastos as he shares the first ever LGBTQ+ kiss in a marvel movie. Ajax, played by Salma Hayek, is the first Latina superhero. Makkari, played by Lauren Ridloff, is the first deaf superhero, who had one of the coolest fight scenes in the movie as she avenged her love interest, Durig, during the final fight against Iikaris. Kingo, played by Kumail Nanjiani, is the first Indian Superhero.
Shang-Chi from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was the first Asian superhero to star in a Marvel movie, and Eternals has given us the first female Asian superhero protagonist, with Sersi played by Gemma Chan.
As a whole, Eternals was a beautiful yet inaccurate tale of our history. Yet, the beautiful animations of the synthezoids guiding human evolution is one that takes us through breathtaking scenes of The Neolithic Revolution,The Birth of Babylon, Ancient Egyptian Connections, Indus, and The Aztec Empire.
The magnitude of the celestials is also a very impressive point in the movie. Whenever the celestial god Arishem is shown, you get a sense of being so little compared to this celestial god.
The movie also takes you into our galaxy, and you get a sense of traveling through space in the last scene especially: when Arishem is mad at the Eternals for stopping the emergence.
Overall, every Hollywood movie has drawbacks and inaccuracies, but Eternals is a movie you can appreciate for the cinematography, as well as the diversity and inclusion that it has to offer.