There are ‘no immediate plans’ for ‘Eternals 2’. But that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the end of them
Eternals is the Marvel movie most unlike its kin. Strange, ponderous, and melancholy, it was a film that I didn’t care much for the first time I saw it, if only because it didn’t conform to any of my expectations. It has much improved in my estimation upon rewatches, and although it still suffers from placing it’s least-interesting character front and centre, I’ve come to realise that Eternals presents characters and themes that I would very much like to see further explored in the MCU.
Unfortunately, a sequel doesn’t look likely, especially not anytime soon. While its lack of box office dominance has been touted as the reason why a sequel isn’t forthcoming, this can’t be the sole reason. Eternals turned a profit, and made roughly the same amount of money as Shang-Chi and Black Widow before it.
I think it was the delicate, slow pacing of the movie combined with a lack of humour that turned off a lot of fans. I think changing this for a sequel would alienate fans of the original movie, but to keep the tone and style the same would be to risk commercial failure. Either way, a sequel is going to be divisive, and not something Michael Mouse is likely to take a gamble on.
So, I present to you another option.
Judgment Day
At the end of Eternals, the Celestial (i.e. Big Space God that created the Eternals) Arishem, yoinks Sersi (Gemma Chan), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), and Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) into space. Arishem’s angry at them for stopping the birth of a new Celestial, which would’ve destroyed Earth. He says that he will determine whether humanity was worth saving based on their memories, and if they’re not, he will return for judgement.
This is obvious sequel set-up, but without a direct sequel in the works, how can this storyline be resolved? The answer can be found in the recent comic book storyline, A.X.E.: Judgment Day, the crossover event between the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Eternals, written by Kieron Gillen, with art by Valerio Schiti.
The premise of the storyline—much simplified—is that a Celestial awakens on Earth and, displeased with the state of human affairs, decides to judge everyone on earth one-by-one over the next twenty-four hours. If more people are judged negatively than positively, it’s bye-bye Earth.
Thumbs Up
There’s no way I can dive into the many complexities of the comic book arc—it requires too much specific knowledge on the state of the Marvel Comics Universe—and the premise doesn’t line up exactly with how Eternals concludes, but the general idea is there.
Obviously, the X-Men aren’t present in current MCU, but despite their heavy presence in the comic book storyline, their inclusion isn’t vital to the general premise. Judgment Day was one of the more narratively successful crossover storylines at Marvel Comics in recent years not because it combined three superhero groups together, but because it put the characters at the forefront, as opposed to the spectacle.
Throughout Judgment Day, the Celestial known as The Progenitor appears to numerous heroes in visions to judge them. These are often the best moments in the story. Iron Man is forced to face the fact that his ego has motivated his heroism; Captain America is forced to face his failure to unite his increasingly divided country; Jean Grey is forced to face the death and destruction she caused as the Phoenix.
It’s these moments, mixed with the expected planning and action set-pieces where the heroes try to stop The Progenitor, that make Judgment Day special, and I think this concept would translate extremely well to the big screen.
My pitch, very roughly, is that after abducting Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo, Arishem determines that he doesn’t have enough information to make an informed judgement, so arrives on Earth to judge everyone one-by-one. Arishem’s arrival triggers the Avengers jumping in to try and stop him. The Eternals are programmed to defend Arishem, so some in-fighting happens amid visions of Arishem’s judgement.
The Eternal Problem
One tricky problem that rears its head is how best to position the Eternals in this story. Given the broad audience that the Avengers would draw, I think a writer would have to assume that most people don’t know who the Eternals are. This re-introduction would be tricky, but by initially only focusing on Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo, I think it can be done.
I also think that merging the Eternals with other superhero teams—the Avengers at the very least—will help with reintegrating them to a general audience. Judgment Day is a world-threatening story on par with the biggest Avengers stories, justifying the inclusion of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in a potential big-screen adaptation.
As we all know, Marvel has put all their eggs in the Robert Downey Jr. basket for the foreseeable future, but maybe by the time they reach a point where they could do adapt Judgment Day, the X-Men will be knocking about somewhere. If so, you could throw them into the pot, but that does threaten to overload the story if it’s not handled well.
I don’t suffer under the delusion that we’re going to see a Judgment Day movie announced anytime soon. But if I were Kevin Feige, I would have this storyline in the back of my head as I think about how best to wrap up dangling plot threads from Eternals while also providing a big, meaty story that general audiences will want to get on board for.
And Kevin, if you need someone to write a treatment—
Hold up!
I hear you, I hear you. “But what about Kit Harrington, fifth lead of Eternals?” Indeed, Harrington’s recent interview around his apparent lack of enthusiasm for a sequel is what’s sparked the most recent discussions about the possibility. Harrington plays Dane Whitman, ostensibly being set up for a future as the sometimes-Avenger, The Black Knight.
To this I say: don’t worry about it. Dane was apparently going to show up in Mahershala Ali’s Blade movie that can’t get off the ground, but if nothing happens, I don’t think anybody will care. Dane has no connection with the Eternals in the comics, he could be cut from Eternals without making a difference, and it doesn’t sound like Kit Harrington has any interest in championing the character.
Judge, Jury, Executioner
I think it’s unfortunate what happened to Eternals. In a post-Endgame world, audiences were either looking for a way out of caring about the MCU, or for something that hit with the same epic scale.
Hindsight’s 20-20, but it’s easy to see how this wasn’t the kind of film that could ever compete with the likes of an Iron Man or a Captain America. It’s simply too peculiar for the kind of audience that only sees superhero movies. I do think that further exploration of these characters and ideas is worthwhile, though.
With the right story, we could see these characters again. I understand that people aren’t exactly clamouring for more, but I believe that that an adaption of Judgment Day could renew an audience’s interest in these characters, tie up some hanging plot points, and deliver the kind of large-scale superhero story that Marvel does best.
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