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I recently rewatched the Eternals movie and I sincerely enjoyed it more than I did when I first watched it in theatres.
I hated the movie when I first watched it in 2021 after being incredibly excited for it in the months leading up to its release. I was deeply disappointed because it was such a far departure from the comics. The Eternal comicbooks were my first real entry into comicbooks. I am a sucker for dense lore and mythical interconnection and elements in fiction universes. The Eternals, to me, were the beating heart of the Marvel Cosmic Mythology, Jack Kirby’s influence on the Marvel Universe crystallized. They are connected to almost every major aspect of the Marvel universe, from the First Firmament to the X-Men.
Fair to say I didn’t give the film much of an opportunity to be what the filmmakers intended it to be. I was just upset at the lost opportunity that I projected that on the film and missed out an amazing story in the process. Doesn’t help that I was immersed in the MCU fandom at the time. I didn’t realise it then, but I was caught in a hive mind echo chamber. Most of my opinions on these movie then weren’t even my own, I was just parroting other people’s opinions as my won. So yeah, Eternals never stood a chance with me, likewise I didn’t enjoy it then and never gave it a chance again.
Watching the film again, after months being outside the echo chamber, I feel like I’m actually watching this film as a film and not as a product. I literally almost cried at how beautiful Chloe Zhao’s story is. It’s truly sincere film unlike anything you’ll ever get in the genre outside of movies like Joker or The Batman.
Though I can understand why people might not necessarily like the film of they are fans of the standard Marvel Studios tongue-in-cheek tone.
I hope more people come back to these movies with a fresh eye once they’ve matured out of their obligate consumer phase. Eternals is a delight and I think more people should check it out.
