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8 Ways In Which Eternals Subverted Expectations of The Fans

After watching the latest installment in the MCU franchise we think that Eternals Subverted Expectations in a lot of ways that we could never expect. In Fact, we made an entire list out of it, got it to 8 points and everything. This movie had so much and Chloe Zhao pulled so much out of it. She had 10 main characters to introduce with a powerhouse of a crowd. Take a look at the list and let us know what you think down in the comments below.

Death of The Strongest Eternal

At the start of the movie, it was made clear to the audience that not every Eternal specialized in combat. Each of them had their own special powers and some of them were fierce warriors. Thena and Gilgamesh were the two capable of most destruction. Their powers aside, they were fearsome warriors. While Kingo and Ikaris relied on their explosive abilities, Thena and Gilgamesh were the close combat fighters of the team. It was expected that they would tear down the Deviants. So imagine our surprise when Gilgamesh was killed off at the halfway point. Like the stakes weren’t high enough already.

 

The Ajak fakeout

Eternals Subverted Expectations

One of the most powerful members of the Eternals in the comics is Ajak. His power and will are unmatched even within his own brethren. But the MCU decided to go a different route. Giving the role to Salma Hayek they decided to create a more humble and conflicted Ajak. Soon, they had us eating out of the palm of their hand. Chloe Zhao pulled one of the craziest fakeouts in cinema history as she killed the leader of the Eternals at the start of the movie. But then she kept on using the character in flashbacks and dream sequences. They couldn’t even resist not putting her in the climax. Sprite just had to imitate her to distract Sersi and stab her in the back. Brutal.

 

Evil Superman

Eternals did something in a single movie that DC has been trying to do for more than 50 years. They gave us a viable reason for a character like Superman turning evil in live-action. There were no clones this time, just pure character development. Ikaris was hyped up to be the strongest Eternal ahead of the movie’s release. It was expected that Ikaris will be imperative in the final battle. instead, he became the “bad guy” of the movie because of his ideals. This made the entire conflict even more dangerous than before. Especially because it was family vs family.

 

Deviant Misdirect

Another clever thing that the marketing for the movie did was to take our attention away from the actual story by giving us a throwaway villain. All throughout the leadup to the movie we were told that Deviants are the main villain of the movie. That the Eternals were to stop the Deviants but in reality, they were here to bucker among themselves and kill a celestial. It sounds weird when I say it like that but that is exactly what happened. Especially because the marketing told us one thing then the movie told us another. However, we must say that the final deviant kill by Angelina Jolie was a thing of beauty.

 

Mahd W’yry

Thena is the strongest warrior that Eternals had. In the final fight, she was on the side of good so they had to give her some problems to combat along with her own family. Simply put, she was overpowered and needed to be nerfed. This was done by giving her the Eternals’ illness of Mahd W’yry. The illness made her forget she was. Her mind was literally being crushed by the weight of her memories. Thena is the strongest warrior so she needed the strongest nerf. If not for her illness she would have sliced the Deviant at the very start of the movie and we won’t have a story.

 

Olympia Means No Place

It was teased throughout the movie that the Eternals come from a paradise word called Olympia. This place was their home and they were supposed to return there after their mission was done. But even when the Deviants were eradicated by the Eternals they were never asked to come home by the Celestials. This led to a very sad existence, one that lulled on for far too long.

 

Eternals Subverted Expectations

Things changed when Eternals found out that the Olympia they dreamt of never existed in the first place. Their real home was the World Forge where they were created by the celestials as artificial beings. This revelation is one of the major story beats of the movie.

While we were thinking that Zeus and Hercules could be from Olympia next, the place turned out to be fake. But it could be introduced later since Russell Crowe is confirmed to play Zeus. It is similar to how Far From Home introduced a fake multiverse. But the real one came in later with Phase 4 projects. Similarly, Eternals seems to have set up the real Olympia for Love and Thunder.

 

There Was No Mutiny – Surprisingly

The Weakest character in the movie was definitely Sersi. Maybe this was by design since Sersi was supposed to be the leader of the group. She was chosen by Ajak to lead them, to make decisions for them, and to look out for them. She felt that she was not qualified for the job and voiced her concern several times. It was even echoed by some of the other group members. The only person who did not leave her side was Ikaris, who believed in her or needed to pretend as such to execute his own plan. Whatever the case might be she remained the leader till the end and killed a celestial with her own hands. Which was amazing and unexpected.

 

No Kingo Climax

The movie star of the Eternals never showed up for the final fight. We do not know why this was the case. Kingo bowed out of the final battle because he did not want to fight against his family, either of the two sides. He accepted his death as the planet was destroyed and the Celestial emerged. He especially did not want to stand against Ikaris. This was a major disappointment as his finger guns would have been indispensable in the final battle. But the other “weaker” Eternals banded together to pull off their victory somehow which was nothing short of amazing.

These were 8 ways in which Eternals Subverted Expectations. The movie is currently playing in theatres, go take a look and let us know how you like it. Keep watching this space for everything Marvel, DC, and Hollywood. Excelsior!!!

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Vidit Sood

He's the biggest comic nerd from QB!
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