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This movie was completely fine; I’d definitely put it in the “better half” of all current MCU films, maybe even the “top third” (I’d have to rewatch to see). It didn’t excel in any one area, and I had a few problems with how some of the characters were portrayed (Sersi just seemed like a big ol’ mope), but i really don’t understand the critic/audience disconnect.
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[B]Rich Johnston: How did you learn that this particular plot point would appear in Eternals? What did you think when you were invited to the premiere? And did you look for your credit, with Alex and John?[/B]
[B]
Jim Krueger[/B]: Well, what's funny, is that I first met Kevin Fiege years ago, after the first trade paperback of [B][SIZE=5]Earth X[/SIZE][/B] had come out. We sat down a number of times and Kevin shared his love for Earth X. He also shared that it was at a time when many of the Marvel heroes, including X-Men, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. At the time, Kevin told me how much he wanted to make Earth X. And I told him that I thought he could do it with the Eternals. Talk about seeds being planted. It didn't take hundreds of thousands of years like a Celestial, but it took almost 25.
I was totally excited about hearing that an Eternals movie was being made. I told Alex a number of times about this conversation, and we talked about the trailers as they came out and the possibility that it would be the Celestial birth story. Alex believed it was the Earth X story before I did. It was the invite from Marvel to the premiere that really got me to suspect that it was that story. I'm glad I didn't know, though, because it was amazing to watch it, listening to the dialog and the mentions of mutations and heroes and beginning to have the story break (or crack if talking in egg terms) as I watched.
[URL="https://bleedingcool.com/comics/jim-krueger-earth-x-eternals-spoilers/"]https://bleedingcool.com/comics/jim-krueger-earth-x-eternals-spoilers/[/URL]
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I wonder why they went with the idea that the nascent Celestial just needed to consume billions of sentient lives to emerge, rather than the Earth X version that it specifically takes an enormous amount of mutants/mutates to achieve. I think the most obvious explanation of it being raw population is that they're specifically tying it into Thanos's motives for the snap, with him secretly acting as a chill against the proliferation of the Celestials as a rogue Eternal. The appearance of Starfox as Thanos's brother and a fellow Eternal seems to support this theory, even though I like the idea that the Celestials are promoting the emergence of "enhanced" individuals to prepare the Earth to "hatch". This Earth X concept also ties nicely into Apocalypse's work as an agent of the Celestials, promoting evolution via Survival Of The Fittest to bring the Earth up to the level of mutation they require.
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Finally got around to seeing this on HBOMax. I thought it was fine to good. I bought into the character interactions and the main conflict etc. I really have one big criticism of the film where it fell short:
-- Sersi and Ikarus were underdeveloped - both as a couple and individually. With all the characters and the story (and yeah, there was a lot of info-dumping in this movie), Sersi and Ikarus weren't given the time they needed for the landing to hit as hard as it should have for me. They seemed to fall in love just because they should. It can be done in only a scene or two to convey what bonded them beyond surface attraction. I think we needed to see why they were important to each other while laying seeds for what would motivate each to make the choices that drive the second half of the movie. Ikarus says that Sersi always loved humanity from the get-go, which to me is a mistake. We're just presented a Sersi who already loves humanity,(why does she love humanity more than the others?) we're presented Ikarus who's already stalwart and loyal.(why is he more loyal than the others?) It didn't give them anywhere to go - they didn't change or really grow from each other. I didn't feel their underlying connection so I didn't feel the real tragedy of their moral divide.
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One other thought or addition to my previous post:
-- I think casting Kit Harrington worked against getting people to buy into the Sersi/Ikarus relationship from the get-go. Fine - then maybe he should have been more important and build the film around Sersi's relationship with [I]him[/I]. The one human rep on the team was a valet who was mostly around for comic relief and was just a humble servant who kissed their butts even when he found out they were sent here to ensure earth's destruction. To quote Billy Butcher, "Where's your rage?!" Having Dane be the human representative, and Sersi's love for him being the thing that fueled her going against her God, could have been interesting. Having Dane become the Black Knight here to fight for earth (maybe he already had the blade but this situation was dire enough for him to use it) could have been more interesting. And it even brings back comic book lore with the Ebony Blade's history against Celestials and could even call back "Operation Galactic Storm" of Dane killing the Supreme Intelligence by having him strike at Tiamut's brain to deliver the killing blow.
But yeah, the heart of the movie should have been built up with more emotion, whether it was Sersi's love for Ikarus or Sersi's love for Dane. I think developing either one of those dynamics would have pushed the film from "okay" to "pretty good" -- for me, anyway.
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[B]Why Eternals Deserves A Second Chance On Disney+[/B]
[url]https://www.empire***********/movies/features/marvel-eternals-deserves-second-chance/[/url]
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I watched it yesterday. There was a lot there. But I enjoyed it. Not sure where the hate came from it wasn't typical marvel but I enjoyed it.