Eternals MCU Rewatch - It's Too Late, But That's Okay
The latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Eternals, and while it has become a tradition for Marvel fans to rewatch all MCU movies before the release of a new one, it’s now too late to do that before Eternals – but that’s ok and it won’t affect the viewers’ experience, and that's what the MCU should do from now on. The MCU has been in constant expansion for over a decade, becoming the most extensive connected universe in the superhero genre, and it shows no signs of stopping soon. With the Infinity Saga now over, the MCU’s Phase 4 is exploring new concepts and introducing new characters, and the latest ones to join the fun are the Eternals.
Directed by Chloé Zhao, Eternals is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame and introduces the title team, who are an alien race created by the Celestials. The Eternals have been living on Earth for centuries, guiding humanity but without interfering in major conflicts, but when their evil counterparts, the Deviants, arrive, Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Druig (Barry Keoghan), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Ajak (Salma Hayek), and Thena (Angelina Jolie) will have to join forces one more time to save Earth.
Like any other MCU movie, Eternals will play a part in the development of this universe and will impact future movies, and of course, it will also have references to past movies and characters. As mentioned above, it has become a tradition for Marvel fans to rewatch all MCU movies before a new one is released, mostly to enjoy all the references and connections, but as this universe expands, a full rewatch gets more and more complicated. With just a few more days to go until the release of Eternals, rewatching over 20 movies won’t be possible for most, but that’s ok as the movie doesn’t really require a full MCU rewatch.
The advantage of Eternals is that it’s a new team with its own mythology and so there’s a lot to explore about them, mostly their origins, arrival, and role in the history of humankind. Eternals, then, is pretty much standalone with references of the MCU existing, so a full MCU rewatch isn’t really required before watching this new adventure. However, for those who still want to revisit some previous MCU movies to better prepare for Eternals, there are only four movies to watch: Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Guardians of the Galaxy has the first, proper introduction to the Celestials when The Collector (Benicio del Toro) explains the origin of the Infinity Stones to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and the rest, and the sequel introduced a Celestial: Ego (Kurt Russell), Quill’s father.
Next are Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the peak of the MCU so far. Infinity War saw Thanos finally getting all the Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of life in the universe with the snap of his fingers, while Endgame was all about the surviving heroes traveling back in time to get the stones before Thanos and reverse the snap, but this also made way for the Battle of Earth, where Thanos and his armies were finally defeated thanks to Iron Man’s sacrifice. The snap and the return of those who vanished affected every corner of the universe, so even if these events aren’t directly linked to the Eternals, they definitely affected them.
What Eternals is doing by being mostly a standalone title in the wide MCU should be the model to follow from now on, as rewatching over 20 movies and more as this universe keeps expanding will get tiring and the audience will lose interest if they have to revisit all those stories to watch a new one. The way MCU movies are supposed to be enjoyed has to change the same way its stories are, and Eternals is doing well in not requiring a major rewatch for fans to understand their story and have a good time, and not all MCU movies need to be closely tied to previous works (except, of course, for sequels).