Huge Marvel movie no longer in development, reports say

Marvel Studios is continuing to finesse the next chapter of its Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the Multiverse Saga started with all of the promise in the world, it hasn't been as consistent as the Infinity Saga, with a number of bumps along the way as it figured out how to tell stories across both film and TV for the first time. It's certainly not at the point of no return, but the studio is making a number of changes to prevent blips like this from taking place in the future.

From Secret Invasion's poor critical reception to the underperformances of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels, 2023 was a rough year for Marvel, but with a new content strategy in place, it means they focus more on each release and ensuring that all of them are successful in their own ways.

Unfortunately, that also means that a number of projects will be cut from the franchise, and now a new report suggests that one of the long-rumored films won't be happening anytime soon, potentially confirming years of rumors.

Eternals 2 not in development anymore (for now)

According to a new update from Marvel insider Alex Perez (a.k.a. AlexFromCC), Eternals 2 was initially in development at Marvel Studios but it's now on the back burner as it is no longer seen as a priority. That doesn't necessarily mean that it won't go back into development at some point, but it does suggest that it will be some time before we see the Celestials on the big screen again.

This also isn't the first time that Eternals' future has been called into question. The first film came and went without any indication as to when we might see these characters again, which was pretty unusual given that it introduced the MCU to a completely new set of lore. Since then, various rumors and reports have suggested that Marvel is moving away from that particular franchise, with insider Daniel Richtman recently suggesting that the studio will be taking less risks and focusing more on guaranteed hits going forward.

Released in 2021, Eternals featured a star-studded cast that included the likes of Angelina Jolie, Barry Keoghan, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, and Salma Hayek. It grossed over $400 million at the box office, which is generally very good, but given the film's huge budget of $236 million and its aforementioned star-studded cast, it was hoped that it would do better than that.

The divisive response to the film didn't help either, with both that and the fact that it produced the MCU's first signs of weakness at the box office resulting in many wondering if this was a risk worth paying off. It seems that Marvel has answered that question - at least for now - as the sequel doesn't seem to be moving forward for the time being.

Fans are hopeful that it will become a priority again in the future, but it is important to note that this probably isn't the last time we'll see the Eternals. Marvel scooper MyTimeToShineHello recently countered the claims that the project had been cancelled with a claim that it had simply been transformed into another project.

The Eternals will likely return at some point

There are a lot of loose threads that were left hanging by the 2021 movie that have yet to be addressed. One of the most important is the off-screen debut of Blade, who spoke to Dane Whitman in the film's post-credits scene. We know that Mahershala Ali will reprise the role for the MCU's Blade movie, so there will be a continuation there. Could we see the Celestials surface there?

There's also the giant hand-shaped-elephant in the room that the franchise has yet to address. After the events of the film, Tiamut's hand and a portion of its head were left sticking out of the water and, save for a tiny reference in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, nobody in the MCU has talked about it yet. Rumor has it that it will finally be addressed in Captain America: Brave New World, but even then, it still feels like the acknowledgement of the Eternals should actually include the Eternals themselves.

Speaking of Captain America: Brave New World, that film will address plotlines that haven't been explored since 2008's The Incredible Hulk, so it goes without saying that the MCU always attempts to tie up loose ends (or use them to further develop ongoing storylines). Taking that into account, even with Disney's new "less is more" approach and Marvel's apparent move away from risk-taking, the Eternals will probably resurface at some point. There were simply too many stories started there to simply drop them altogether, and it seemed that they might be important to the Multiverse Saga.

With that in mind, don't be surprised if there are more cameo appearances, nods, or references to the titular group, or if they return in one of the upcoming Avengers movies. The world needs to know more about the Celestials and there was too much potential there for them to be forgotten about.

That said, here's hoping that Marvel can find a way to make Eternals 2 happen at some point; even if it's redeveloped into a Disney Plus show instead.