There was a time in my life when Marvel was pretty much everything I thought about. I theorized about the next film, wondered who the new heroes would be, and couldn’t wait to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe continue.
Then 2019 came around, Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, and everything started to go downhill. Sure, there were some great movies and TV shows—I still love to rewatch WandaVision years later because I can’t wait for VisionQuest and the continuation of that story. But for the most part, Marvel just… hasn’t been the same.
That said, some exceptional movies in the last few years show Marvel is making a steady return to its storytelling. Deadpool & Wolverine was a lot of fun. The Thunderbolts* was one of my favorite films of 2025. And of course, everyone and their mother has talked about Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
But I want to talk about a film from 2021 that no one seems to talk about—and that Marvel itself has forgotten—Eternals, and why it’s actually a good movie despite no one talking about it years later.
Eternals has a unique plot in comparison to many other heroes
Look, Marvel is Marvel because of the superheroes. Are they great? Of course. I love me some Spider-Man and Daredevil (still upset about the cancellation), Iron Man, and everyone else. They are what make heroes, heroes.
But in a time when we were still post-Endgame and trying to find our footing back in this universe, something like Eternals was really needed because we needed something bigger than Thanos. Bigger than the idea of wiping out half of everything in the universe. We needed things that could potentially destroy worlds.
And that’s where the threat in Eternals comes from. The idea of Celestials—otherworldly beings born from the ashes of planets and shaping universes, stars, and planets—is freaking crazy, and we don’t see it in many other Marvel films. I think with Dr. Doom becoming a major antagonist in the MCU now, we might get a little deeper into space and the scary, terrifying parts of the universe we don’t really know about.
But these creatures would be next level, and I don’t know how the Avengers would take them on. This is a story unlike any other, even if the ending is a little messy.
The cast was the best we'd see in years
Yes, the Avengers cast is star-studded. Still, this film's cast was genuinely off the charts, featuring Primetime Emmy Award-winning actors, Academy Award winners, and so many other talented souls.
To refresh your memory, Eternals featured Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and the mother of all mothers, Angelina Jolie. I mean, come on. An ensemble like that is to die for.
And what’s great is that they all have amazing roles in the movie. Like, I don't think there's a single character who is truly shelved and didn’t get at least one moment to shine. Maybe the only one I could think of is Harrington’s character, Dane Whitman. Still, I honestly think that was because he was most likely originally planned for more before the ultimate collapse of Blade (which his character was connected to).
The cinematography is better than any Marvel movie
We live in an age where many Marvel movies are just blasted with CGI—and really bad CGI at that. I still relive some of the moments from Thor: Love and Thunder. It feels like as this franchise has gained more money, the effects have gotten worse.
However, Eternals is not like that. Yes, it does have plenty of CGI, but it’s done so well. Even so, that’s not what draws you in—it's the cinematography. It’s the absolute genius behind the camera, along with the direction of Academy Award-winning director Chloe Zhao.
This film is absolutely stunning to look at, and it was beautiful on a big screen when I saw it in 2021. It’s a shame it never got the big-screen appreciation it deserved, because this is a film made for the movies, not our little plasma TVs.
The timeframe just didn’t work in 2021
I honestly think that Eternals was released at a terrible time. I think if Eternals had been released in a better year and with much better marketing, it could have made a killing. But the film came out in 2021, when Marvel films were starting to return to theaters and become mainstream again.
COVID-19 was still a major issue at the time, so not many people were willing to shell out money to take their families to see a film about a bunch of strangers. I honestly believe that if it were released now, way more people would want to go and see it, especially with the connection to space and everything else now. But just because it came out at the wrong time does not mean it is a bad film.
This movie really is a great one, and while there’s no real connection to anything happening in the MCU at this very moment, I would fully suggest watching it, if not just for how pretty it looks.
You can stream Eternals on Disney+.
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