Eternalsended with an enormous cliffhanger that for a time seemed like it would never be resolved. However, I believe that the impact of those events can be easily addressed inAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars, setting up theMarvel Cinematic Universefor an excellent future.WhileEternalswas not commercially successful, there was much to like about the film.Several details have remained important since, with the discovery ofAdamantium inCaptain America: Brave New Worlddirectly linked.
Still, many details of the ending ofEternalsremain unaddressed. With the state of the universe and itsMCU post-credit trendof recent years, it has taken a while for many teased stories to reach their full conclusions.Much ofEternalswas clearly setting up for a sequel, although the response to the film has made that now unlikely.Still, the events of the film are important to the larger universe and cannot be entirely ignored. Fortunately, the plots of the upcomingAvengersfilms may address this quickly and concisely.
Eternals' Ending Was A Pretty Massive Cliffhanger That’s Remained Unanswered Since 2021
Arishem The Judge Claimed That He May Return To Judge Earth
Theending ofEternalsfeatured a complex battle that saw the new team turning against one another, with Ikaris willing to deal with the destruction of humanity so long as other worlds would be there to take its place. With his defeat, several members of the team weretaken by Arishem the Judgeto have their memories reviewed.Arishem spoke of how he would need to come to a conclusion, which could lead him back to Earth to cast judgment upon the planetin an enormous act of destruction.
There is an important future with cosmic consequences surrounding not just the characters from the Eternals team, but also from Arishem himself; however, the disappointing response toEternalsmade a sequel no longer a priority.
This is a pretty significant closing that has not yet been revisited in the MCU.While it is certainly possible that Arishem would determine that Earth would be allowed to live on, this doesn’t seem the most likely result of his judgment. Either way, there is an important future with cosmic consequences surrounding not just the characters from the Eternals team, but also from Arishem himself. However, the disappointing response toEternalsmade a sequel no longer a priority, and this has not yet been addressed since.
Avengers: Doomsday & Secret Wars Presents 2 Major Answers To Eternals' Cliffhanger
Arishem, and in fact all the Celestials, are an enormous part of the cosmos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, there are two ways that this same idea of judgment could be confronted inAvengers: DoomsdayandSecret Wars.The first would be in allowing the events to take place, including Battleworld, which would see humanity challenged by greater threats.If they were to win against Doctor Doom, they would have proven Earth’s importance, and would thereby have proven themselves worthy to Arishem.
However, there is an even simpler solution that the franchise could pull out of the events ofSecret Wars.With all the universes colliding together, Arishem and the Celestials may in fact be done away with altogether.Through the convergence of universes, there is nothing to say that these figures could not be destroyed. I believe this is how the question will be answered by thecharacters ofAvengers: Secret Wars, especially as it could be done without ever directly discussing Arishem or the Celestials.
Eternals' Cliffhanger Answers Show Why The MCU Needs To Avoid Waiting To Answer Its Major Storylines
Too Many Questions Have Lingered For Too Long
The more time that passes since the release ofEternals, the less important I find the film feels to the larger universe.Events seem to be being retconned, with whatever plans were originally intended falling by the wayside. Unfortunately, withEternals’low box-office, the film has been mostly ignored. This has made features like the Celestial in the ocean, thepost-credit scene with Harry Styles, and the ending with Arishem the Judge feel mostly meaningless, causing the loss of some faith in the franchise.
If the MCU does not answer the questions that it poses, then they cease to matter.If that occurs enough times, then the projects that the series creates will not seem as important from the outset.Marvel has carefully built a universe of important characters and excellent dynamics, but if introduced characters likeBrett Goldstein’s Herculesnever appear again, then the important details from the films they were introduced in suddenly seem less so. Marvel needs to ensure that their canon is clear and consistent, and that means addressing their own questions quickly enough.
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The questions left fromEternalsmay not seem as important. Most audiences had a middling reception to the film, and there does not seem to be an insatiable hunger for more stories featuring those characters. However,for the stability of the MCU, it is important that pieces like this remain canon, and be treated as such.Marvel has worked hard to build a cohesive and coherentMarvel Cinematic Universe, but that will only continue to work so long as they continue to support it entirely.
