Marvel's Eternals Director Chloe Zhao Responds To Rotten Tomatoes Score

Eternals director Chloe Zhao doesn't seem like she's sweating the film's Rotten Tomatoes score. Upon its debut in November, Eternals became the first Marvel Studios movie labeled rotten by the review aggregation website. That places the film at the bottom of the site's Marvel Cinematic Universe rankings. Rotten Tomatoes revisited that ranking on the latest episode of its Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong podcast. The show has Rotten Tomatoes' editorial team debate the merits and flaws of rotten movies. The new episode asks, "Does Chloé Zhao's superhero epic Eternals really deserve to be ranked at the bottom of the MCU?"

Zhao spotted a post about this episode. She then shared it on her Instagram account. Zhao asks fans the same question in her story and encourages them to watch Eternals when it arrives on Disney+ later this month. She writes, "Does it..? Join the fun debate or if you are not sure, check it out on Disney+ on January 12 with directors commentary and many features."

Marvel Studios producer Victoria Alonso previously brushed off the negative reviews of Eternals. "We have tried to stir it up and sometimes the critics are not with us. That's OK. That's OK...," Alonso said at the Outfest Legacy Awards. "We thank you for being a critic. We thank you for writing about us. And the fans will decide."

While it's rated rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, Eternals earned a four-out-of-five review score from ComicBook.com's Jamie Jirak. "Eternals will likely be one of the more divisive films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe," she wrote. "The strong characters and visuals will be enough for some fans to consider it one of the best of the franchise while others will find its messy plot and extended runtime a hard pill to swallow. No matter how you feel about Eternals, there's no denying Phase Four is off to an exciting start."

Marvel Studios' Eternals introduces a new group of heroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These ancient aliens have lived on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against humanity's most ancient enemy, the Deviants.

Zhao directed Eternals from a screenplay she co-wrote with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo. The film stars Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie.

Do you think Eternals deserves its rotten score? Let us know in the comments. Eternals comes to Disney+ on January 12th.