By Lana Shahrour | Staff Writer
After a successful four-year-long Phase Three, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has made its comeback this year. The comeback marks the start of a new Phase, which currently features over eight confirmed movies.
Perhaps the most anticipated movie of this Phase, and the entire year, would be The Eternals, which follows the story of a group of immortal superheroes who protect the universe and fight off the Deviants. The Eternals is set to pave the way for Phase Four, following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Many critics believe that this movie will change the future of MCU; the movie has already made history as it features the first MCU filmmaker to win an Oscar for best director, Chloé Zhao, who won the 2021 Academy Award for directing the movie Nomadland.
In addition, The Eternals presents a massive A-list cast, which includes some of the most famous faces in Hollywood, such as Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kit Harington, to name a few. The movie introduces ten new superheroes in one movie – a bold move and unlike anything Marvel Studios has ever done before. Many of these characters have the potential to become the new faces of Marvel for the years to come. We have Dane Whitman, who later becomes Black Knight, one of the most popular and remarkable figures in Marvel Comics that has yet to be introduced to the cinematic universe. In fact, many critics believe Black Knight is going to have his own blockbuster movie or Disney+ series in late 2022. It is possible that, through this character, Marvel is building a bridge between the old and new Phase, as Black Knight ends up becoming the leader of the Avengers in the comics – something that Marvel will most likely follow in its movies.
Moreover, Eternals is set to become the first Marvel movie to feature the debut appearance of the Deviants, the eternal enemies of the Celestials, as the film delves deep into the story behind their multiverse war that spans over thousands of years. One speculates that perhaps the Eternals explain the beginnings of the Mutants, a key to introducing the X-Men into the MCU, which has been a topic of discussion in Marvel Studios for the past year ever since Disney bought 21st Century Fox. In fact, Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, revealed the company’s plans to create an X-Men franchise within the next five years. More importantly, the movie presents unprecedented diversity as it will be the first MCU movie ever to feature an LGBTQ+ superhero, a deaf superhero, and superheroes of different ethnicities such as South Asians; a milestone that is set to change the MCU forever.