With Avengers: Endgame, the MCU was at a high point. However, Eternals, the first film in the Phase 4 film series, showed that the Infinity Saga’s conclusion was an outlier. Most of the MCU films are part of the Infinity Saga, the first three phases of Marvel’s massively successful MCU.
Viewers were left wondering how Earth’s Mightiest Heroes could recover from their greatest defeat in Avengers: Infinity War. Unfortunately, one of the few MCU projects that some consider a failure is Eternals. What viewers loved about Endgame were the parts of Eternals that didn’t work. In 2012, The Avengers made the MCU one of pop culture’s most enduring and mainstream successes. Marvel Studios released a crossover film after five commercially successful and well-received solo superhero films.
The MCU’s heroes kept growing, and they were gradually building toward an epic showdown with Marvel’s comic book villain Thanos. Notwithstanding, the villain has been a staple of comics for decades. Besides being a sequel to Infinity War and the previous two Avengers films, Endgame was also the culmination of all that had happened in the MCU up to that point.
It’s been a priority for Marvel Comics to make new threats bigger since Endgame was released and the Infinity Saga concluded. The multiverse has been a recurring theme in the MCU’s fourth season. As first suggested in Endgame’s Time Heist and Spider-Man: Far From Home, alternate timelines have played an important role in Marvel’s Disney+ shows, such as Loki and What If…? as well as films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Using Celestials and their lore in the MCU increased the threat posed by Eternals compared to Thanos, despite the lack of the multiverse.
Eternals Have A Lot Of Issues
After all, Eternals is one of the few MCU films that hasn’t been a raging success when it was released. Celestials, the MCU’s near-omnipotent cosmic beings, were previously shown in Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, whose antagonist, Ego, was a Celestial. Eternals is based on the high-concept work of the legendary Jack Kirby.
Even with a strong cast of characters, Eternals’ third act was a disappointment to many viewers, even with a unique premise.
Eternals’ cast of characters, on the other hand, was a big draw for fans. With its massive scope, Eternals devotes much of its running time to the intimate stories of its titular heroes, who have had an impact on human history.
Instead of focusing on the characters, the film ends in an attempt to outdo the epic stakes of its predecessor, Endgame, losing sight of its strong cast. It’s a shame that what worked for Endgame didn’t work for Eternals, since the Infinity Saga took over a decade to build up to its conclusion, whereas Eternals did so in just one film.
Avengers: Endgame – How It Achieved The Unthinkable
Endgame has one of the most emotional and epic payoffs in MCU history. This is so with nearly every cinematic hero fighting together against Thanos and his forces in an epic battle. Thanos’ victory in Infinity War led to the death of half of the universe’s population. However, the Avengers could reclaim the Infinity Stones and bring back the people who were taken by Thanos. This, as well as an earlier version of the Mad Titan.
A “do-over” of Infinity War’s segmented conflict is what Endgame’s finale is all about. Because of their efforts in Endgame, the Avengers could win their most important battle once more.
Being one of the most ambitious superhero films to date, The Avengers debuted in 2012. It was followed up by a sequel with an even bigger budget and an even larger cast. Because of the eleven-year-long buildup in which the franchise’s heroes were gradually brought closer to Thanos and the apocalyptic threat, he posed, Endgame could pull off such an ambitious climax. Despite Thanos’ success against the Avengers and Guardians, the heroes could defeat him once and for all in Infinity War. All this, while also bringing an end to two of the original six Avengers.
The MCU Has Issues With Stories That Alter The Universe
It’s no secret that the MCU’s stories and characters have been hugely successful because of their realism. They are at their best when they tell stories about ordinary people who find themselves confronted by extraordinary things like superpowers, advanced technology, and extraterrestrial creatures. To a certain extent, Phase 4 has forgotten about this strength.
Infinity Saga properties such as Eternals, Loki, and What If…? Focus too much on lore building and meta-narratives. As a reason, they forgo grounded characterization to keep up with the scale of the Infinity Saga. This is why they’re entertaining. However, what made the Infinity Saga and Avengers: Endgame so successful was the fact that the characters were put first in both films. Ultimately, the film was all about the characters, and the explosive, crowd-pleasing finale was just the culmination of the franchise’s main protagonists.
A Second MCU Finale Is Possible?
After Endgame, it’s impossible for the MCU to duplicate its success and emotional impact in a single phase, let alone a single film. In a sense, less than three years after the events of Endgame, the MCU has already experienced a second similar success. Using the multiverse concept, Spider-Man: No Way Home brings together villains and Spider-Man variations from two other realities (which happen to be those of the two previous Spider-Man film franchises), bringing an end to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy while also tying it to its predecessors, allowing for one final adventure for all three Spider-Man iterations and many of their villains. Avengers Endgame’s buildup and intimate characterization were impossible to replicate in a single film, even with Eternals’ lofty ambitions.
