Eternals (2021) is a superhero film adapted from Marvel Comics, directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Gemma Chan and Richard Madden. The film is part of the MCU and was released by Marvel Studios. Runtime: 2h 36m. Rated PG-13. Audience rating: 6.3/10.
What is Eternals (2021) about?
An immortal group of heroes sent to Earth thousands of years ago must reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts — the Deviants — and confront a stunning revelation.
Released in 2021, Eternals was directed by Chloé Zhao and produced under the Marvel Studios banner. The film occupies a significant place within the MCU — contributing to the ongoing narrative and mythology of that cinematic universe.
The film features lead performances from Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, among others, anchoring a story that adapts characters first brought to life in Marvel Comics. Its source material gives the film a foundation rooted in decades of published storytelling, which Zhao and the creative team interpret through a cinematic lens.
The film's 6.3 audience rating indicates a mixed response. Even so, it holds interest as part of the broader MCU catalogue and for how it fits into the lineage of Marvel Comics-based cinema.
What happens in Eternals (2021)? — Full Plot
We open in 5,000 BC. Ten Eternals — cosmic-engineered beings created by the celestial Arishem — arrive on Earth aboard a starship called the Domo. Their mission: protect humanity from the Deviants, a parallel race of cosmic creatures that prey on developing civilizations. The Eternals split into pairs and disperse across the ancient world — Sersi and Ikaris become Mesopotamian guardians; Thena and Gilgamesh become Babylonian warriors; etc.
Cut to: 2018, after the Snap and the Battle of New York. The Eternals have been hiding in modern society for centuries — keeping their cosmic identities secret from humans. Sersi (Gemma Chan) works as a museum educator in London. Ikaris (Richard Madden) has been quietly observing her over centuries. Their reunion is the film's emotional centerpiece — childhood lovers reuniting after centuries of separation.
A Deviant — a horror-movie-creature with humanoid teeth and an aggressive temperament — attacks Sersi in London. She defeats it. The attack signals the Deviants have returned. The team needs to reassemble.
Sersi reunites the team. Each Eternal has a backstory revealing their pre-modern Earth interventions. Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) invented the wheel in Mesopotamia. Sprite (Lia McHugh) is a centuries-old immortal child who has been processing childhood emotions for millennia. The Eternals' Sergeant — Ajak (Salma Hayek) — has been their leader for thousands of years.
Ajak is killed by a Deviant in the film's first act, leaving the team without a leader. Sersi inherits Ajak's leadership role and her cosmic communication device. Through the device, Sersi learns the truth: Arishem (the celestial that created them) has been using the Eternals to seed celestial-creature embryos in inhabited planets. Once a planet hosts enough sentient life, the embryo emerges — destroying the planet and birthing a new celestial. Earth is now the cradle of a new celestial. The emergence is imminent.
The team is divided. Ikaris and Sprite believe the celestial emergence is cosmically necessary. Sersi, Phastos, Kingo, Thena, Gilgamesh, Makkari, and Druig oppose it — Earth's destruction is unacceptable. The two factions split. Sprite, in a particularly tragic moment, chooses Ikaris's faction out of jealousy of Sersi.
The final battle is across multiple locations. The pro-Earth Eternals work to prevent the celestial emergence. Sersi, channeling the cosmic energy of all the surviving Eternals, transmutes the emerging celestial into a marble statue — leaving Earth intact but with a giant celestial corpse jutting from the planet's surface. The Eternals are then declared apostates by Arishem, who teleports the remaining cosmic-deity factions away from Earth.
Eternals grossed $402 million globally on a $200 million budget — modest commercial success but widely cited as commercially underperforming. The film became the first MCU film with a 'Rotten' Rotten Tomatoes score. Marvel Studios has not announced an Eternals sequel.
Who stars in Eternals (2021)?
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What are some facts about Eternals (2021)?
Eternals released in 2021, placing it within the 2020s era of comic book cinema — a decade that saw superhero films become the dominant force at the global box office.
Directed by Chloé Zhao, the film was produced by Marvel Studios and adapts source material from Marvel Comics.
The principal cast features Gemma Chan and Richard Madden, with key supporting roles played by Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington.
The film belongs to MCU — the Marvel Cinematic Universe — the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
Eternals carries an audience rating of 6.3 — a middling reception but one that hasn't prevented its cultural footprint.
The Marvel Comics source material for Eternals has been in continuous publication for decades, giving filmmakers a rich well of storylines, character arcs, and iconography to draw upon.
Modern superhero films like this one use a mix of practical effects and digital VFX, with entire sequences often shot against volume walls or LED stages pioneered by shows like The Mandalorian.
Eternals is catalogued on Movies on Comics among our collection of 162 comic book films spanning 48 years of cinema — from Richard Donner's 1978 Superman to the present day.
