* SPOILER ALERT!! *
Marvel Studios’ Eternals has become a polarising film among fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), as fans seem to adore it, even if critics feel otherwise (read our review here). There’s plenty to unpack about the almost three-hour-long movie that spans 7,000 years of human history and regardless of how you feel about the film, Chloe Zhao’s introduction of 10 new heroes to the MCU raises new questions about the franchise, and we need answers.
Of course, not all questions need answering, including why didn’t the Avengers show up? If the Emergence takes place eight months after half the galaxy returns, that means the super team were in shambles, Doctor Strange didn’t have his Time Stone, and none of them were in any position to be involved.
And did Phastos create the atomic bomb? Don’t know, don’t care.
If you have not seen Marvel’s Eternals, please leave. But if you have seen it, and have questions about the movie, so do we. Read on.
#1. If the Eternals have been on Earth for 7,000 years and were likely here when Ego the Celestial came to bear offspring (as revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), were they aware of his presence and his plans?
The Eternals were put on Earth by the Celestials to protect humans from non-human threats, mainly the Deviants, but when the Emergence of a Celestial threatened to destroy all of Earth, the team was quick to turn their backs against their creators. As it turns out, the Emergence was about the birth of a new Celestial, so this raises several questions.
Were the Eternals also aware of Ego, another Celestial, and his plans to bear offspring and destroy the inhabitants of Earth? Surely with their frequent communications with Arishem, word of Ego’s arrival would have come up somehow? Yet, the movie has no mention of Ego.
Ego’s plan to sire Celestial offspring was also based on the understanding that he wasn’t able to detect other Celestials. So was he a real Celestial, because there clearly are others, or was he something else?
And was Ego aware of Earth as the birthplace of Tiamut? As a fellow Celestial, he should know, or did he not care, and if killing humans as part of his plans, wouldn’t Arishem intervene?
#2. Which came first? Makkari or sign language as we know it?
Having existed for over 7,000 years, it’s hard to pinpoint when language first came about, let alone sign language. Seeing how Makkari used sign language to communicate with her fellow Eternals, was that something she formulated and later on passed down to humans when they came to Earth, or was it something that she picked up eventually as humanity developed languages?
#3. Are Ajak and Gilgamesh really dead? What about Ikaris?
One of the biggest revelations we learned is that the Eternals are immortal and that the Celestials basically have a factory full of copies that they send to different planets to protect and observe. Each time the Eternals complete their mission and get deployed to different planets, their memory gets wiped out and refreshed – with the exception of Thena who later on regains her memory.
In Eternals, Ajak and Gilgamesh meet their ends, but are they really dead if there’s likely an infinite version of them hanging around somewhere in space? And most importantly, will we meet them again? A sequel or Disney+ series perhaps?
The same goes for Ikaris. At the end of the movie Ikaris, well, flew too close to the sun but did the act kill him or did he just fly off into space, never to return? What seemed cheesy at first is actually pretty morbid because we may have just witnessed an on-screen suicide. It all happened so quickly too, so is Ikaris really gone? Or did the sun just absorb him? Be right back, we’re still reeling from how morbid that was.
#4. Why is Sprite a child, and does she retain her abilities as a human?
A big part of Sprite’s personal journey was focused on her age and how she wants to get older and experience ‘adult’ things like love and romance, just like the other members on the team. Whilst she eventually got her wish when Sersi made her mortal and therefore giving her the opportunity to grow up and grow old, the movie never addressed why she remained as a child all this time.
The same goes for her abilities. By tapping on to the Uni-Mind, Sersi was charged up and able to make Sprite mortal, but it was never clear if Sprite retained her Eternal abilities.
#5. What is up with Dane Whitman’s Black Knight and Blade?
Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman character, otherwise known as the Black Knight in the comics, barely made 20 minutes of screen time. In the movie, Dane is Sersi’s boyfriend but with Sersi travelling all around the globe to round out the rest of the Eternals gang, Dane immediately gets pushed to the background. And while the movie didn’t transform him into Black Knight, there were hints, with mention of his uncle, who in the comics was the previous Black Knight, and Sprite mentioned the Ebony Blade, which made an appearance in the post credits scene.
At the end, Whitman was also on the cusp of telling Sersi something before the appearance of Arishem threw off his plans. In the same post credit scene, we also heard a voice address Whitman and it turns out that the voice belongs to Blade aka Daywalker aka Mahershala Ali. The Black Knight and Blade aren’t normally associated in the comics, so where is the MCU going with this?
#6. What did Sersi do to Tiamut?
The plan was for Druig to mind control Tiamut, the sleeping Celestial, to rest more but when that failed, Tiamut emerged from the planet and was… turned to stone? Frozen? It’s never clearly stated. Is Tiamut still in slumber or dead?
And there’s now a massive Celestial half embedded in the planet? How is that possible? Even if the planet is not cracked, why weren’t there more natural disasters near the Indian Ocean, from seismic activities that would cause tsunamis, to molten lava emerging from the core of the planet?
Unless of course, the events in the sea bring forth Namor and Atlantis…
#7. Why can’t Druig control Deviants?
Druig’s special power is mind control. He can bend anyone to his will and do whatever he says, and according to the movie, he’s even capable of using his influence on a young Celestial when powered up. So if Druig is capable of controlling the mind of any being, then why can’t he just control the minds of Deviants? Wouldn’t it be so much easier? Less mess, no stress!
#8. How did Makkari survive in their ship for THAT long?
After the Eternals disbanded, each member went their own ways. Sersi went to London, Phastos to suburbia and Makkari, well, chose to stay in their ship in hopes that the Celestials will soon call them back home to Olympia.
With hardly any food or a convenience store in sight and only a box of Twinkies laying amongst her treasures and books, how did Makkari survive that long in the ship with hardly any sustenance and human interaction AND still remain sane? We’re entering season two of a pandemic and are losing our minds, how did she survive thousands of YEARS?
#9. Did the Eternals get their minds wiped at the end of the movie?
As previously mentioned, the Celestials love giving the Eternals a good mind wipe out the moment they’ve completed their missions. Memories? In the bin it goes! With Arishem clearly pissed at the remaining living Eternals for disobeying him, will he remove their memories and identities as punishment? Or is he just going to hold them hostage until judgment day comes for Earth? Who knows?
#10. What’s up with Eros?
The casting of Harry Styles as Eros, the brother of Thanos aside, his role in the MCU raises a lot of questions. He’s identified as an Eternal in the film, as well as being the brother of Thanos. Well, even if we ignore the fact that they look nothing alike, since Eros is not purple nor does he have a groin sack hanging off his chin, how is it possible that the two are related?
And if it is true, does that make Thanos an Eternal? The comics have played fast and loose with the fact that Thanos is the son of an Eternal and may possess the Deviant gene, but Sersi made it clear that the group didn’t interfere with Thanos’ plan as the Deviants were not involved. Did she mean the Deviants on Earth or in general?
Bonus Question
Much has been said about the love scene between Ikaris and Sersi, and it being the MCU’s first love scene, our question is more practical – they were doing it in the desert, surrounded by sand. Now, we don’t want to go full Anakin Skywalker here, but sand does get everywhere, and doing it on sand can get… painful.
Maybe that’s why Sersi had that look of pain (throughout the movie) for the last 5,000 years – the memory of doing it in the sand has stayed with her all this while.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
Trinity Sun
