The most awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Eternals is falling in the pit that once Brie Larson warned the fans about.
Eternals, a movie expected to break all the records for the Marvel Cinematic Universe turns out to be the lowest-rated Marvel movie ever. Even before the movie could make its worldwide premiere on 5th November, the ratings and reviews have made sure that the movie doesn’t get any recognition.
The Pre-release Backlash
Eternals is one of the most anticipated Marvel movies of all time. Soon, after the release of Avengers: Endgame fans started waiting for the Eternals and once the trailer came out, the excitement of the movie hitting the theatres was at an all-time high. Some of the biggest stars ever starred in any MCU movie, like Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, and Gemma Chan. The film is expected to answer several questions and bring forth the oldest race of superheroes, Eternals on Earth.
The movie is expected to break many boundaries in terms of representation, cinematic appeal and fan expectations. However, the recent Rotten Tomatoes’ early reviews show that the movie could be Marvel’s biggest blunder.
The ratings of Eternals on Rotten Tomatoes has fallen to 58%, which is the lowest rating for any Marvel movie till date. Out of the 26 Marvel movies Thor: The Dark World and The Incredible Hulk were the most downgraded movies with 67% and 66% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. But, Eternals started falling from 71% and went to 61% and now it’s at 58% which is probably the lowest mark any Marvel movie would touch in the future too.
Furthermore, the initial reviews mock various themes of the movie be it Thena’s mental disorder or the representation of LGBTQ communities. To top it all Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries won’t be seeing the release of the movie as they asked for several edits into the gay couple plot of the movie that Disney refused to do.
Brie Larson Stands Correct In Retrospect
The critics are taking a dig at Marvel’s Eternals as the movie includes a gay couple who will be seen kissing in the movie. The LGBTQIA+ representation in the film is probably the only reason why the critics have aimed at Eternals.
It is not the first time such discrimination has happened. Not long back Brie Larson in her acceptance speech at Crystal Award for Excellence in Film made clear how the movies do not reach the right audience and how the negative ratings from unwanted critics eventually deteriorate the real value of the movie. Which is also the propelling point of fans’ ‘hatred’ towards her. Much like Eternals, 2019s Captain Marvel also got bad reviews even before its release. Black Panther too face similar criticism.
“I don’t want to hear what a white man has to say about ‘A Wrinkle in Time.’ I want to hear what a woman of color, a biracial woman has to say about the film. I want to hear what teenagers think about the film.”
“If you make a movie that is a love letter to women of colour, there is a chance that a woman of colour does not have access to review and critique your film,” she said. While revealing plans to roll out an opt-in program that will provide studios with access to underrepresented journalists and critics. “Do not say the talent is not there, because it is.”
The low reviews, critics rating or “review-bombing” is a clear representation of how the critics/fans (?) don’t want to watch something that represents a gay couple. A very sad state indeed but one can count on fandom to save the day! After all Captain Marvel grossed $1.128 billion on worldwide Box Office.
All the one-star reviews probably make their way from an audience that’s ignorant, angry, or prejudistic.
THE FATE OF THE ETERNALS
The movie that hasn’t been watched is being reviewed so harshly, evidently showing the hatred of the people for a particular ideology. One of the users called the film, “woke and mediocre,” furthermore calling the upcoming movie, “cheap even for [Marvel].” Another review called Chloe Zhao directed the venture as “sucky” and referred to the movie as MCU’s way to “tick all the Hollywood Woke boxes.”
All of the scenarios doesn’t fail to show that Brie Larson made all the sense in the world. Sometimes the internet hate can be very real. There’s certainly hope that the movie with a wide spectrum of representation does reach its right audience. As fans will have the ultimate opinion that makes all the difference.
