Marvel‘s Eternals, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloe Zhao, had its world premiere in Los Angeles, on Monday, and stood out for being the most “un-MCU” movie so far, according to attendees.
The film introduces a new team of super heroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and will release in India on November 5. Based on the Marvel Comics race of the same name, Eternals takes place in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame (2019), and follows “ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. After being forced out of the shadows, they reunite to fight against “mankind’s oldest enemy, the Deviants.”
The film’s world premiere was attended by the entire cast and crew. Critics who attended the world premiere said that the film is different from the “formulaic” Marvel films made so far.
Herb Scribner said that while the film is huge in terms of cast, story, and scale, “it does not feel like a Marvel movie at all,” and failed to hit the “Marvel notes” for him. “There are moments where you want more action, more battles rather than a story.”
However, for Jack McBryan, “It’s a story that is more massive but simultaneously more down-to-earth than the MCU has ever been.”
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Zhao’s Marvel debut features Angelina Jolie as the “fierce warrior” Thena, Richard Madden as the “all-powerful” Ikaris, Gemma Chan as “humankind loving” Sersi, Kumail Nanjiani as the “cosmic powered” Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as the “super-fast” Makkari or the Marvel equivalent of Flash, Brian Tyree Henry as the “intelligent inventor” Phastos, Salma Hayek as the “wise and spiritual leader” Ajak, Lia McHugh as the “eternally young and old soul” Sprite, Don Lee as the “powerful” Gilgamesh, Barry Koeghan as the “aloof loner” Druig, and Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman or, the Black Knight.
With Tyree Henry’s Phastos, Eternals also introduced the first ever Black gay superhero in a Marvel film.
The film that was announced at the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con, is based on Jack Kirby’s comic book series by the same name, that was first published in 1976.
Eternals belongs to Disney’s Phase Four slate of releases, and will be screened exclusively in theatres for a period of 45 days, before being made available on the OTT platform Disney+.