Marvel’s Eternals: “Only in Theaters” Trailer Airs During Olympics

As movie-going faces another uphill battle with the rise of the Delta variant of COVID-19, Marvel Studios and Disney are attempting to move things back to “normal” as some of their upcoming high-profile releases will be exclusive to movie theaters and won’t have a hybrid streaming release on the same date. Viewers watching the Olympics last night noticed a new TV spot for Marvel’s Eternals and though none of the footage itself was new, the title card that made it clear the film would be “only in theaters” upon release couldn’t be ignored. You can watch it for yourself in the player below found via Twitter.

News that Eternals will be exclusive to theaters shouldn’t come as much of a shock as it was seemingly confirmed over the summer that Black Widow and Jungle Cruise could be the last movies from the company to be released in theaters and on Disney+ premier access simultaneously. Disney CEO Bob Chapek previously confirmed that Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the Ryan Reynolds’ starring Free Guy will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window upon their release. Those two films were seemingly the ones called out as starting the theatrical exclusive trend for Disney since they arrive few months ahead of Eternals, due out November 5.

“Regardless of where they originate, all of our films and episodic series will end up as part of the robust library of content on our direct-to-consumer platforms,” Chapek said back in May. “Flexibility is the key component of our distribution strategy, and we have outlined three approaches for distributing our films. Releases in Theatres with the simultaneous offering via Disney+ Premiere Access, release straight to Disney+, and traditional exclusive theatrical releases.”

It would appear the third strategy is where many of their releases will be headed, assuming that the spread of COVID-19 does not worsen once again.

The Eternals cast includes Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Gemma Chan as Sersi, and Barry Keoghan as Druig. Kit Harington also stars as Dane Whitman, a.k.a. the Marvel Comics hero Black Knight.

According to the film’s official synopsis, “Marvel Studios’ Eternals welcomes an exciting new team of Super Heroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The epic story, spanning thousands of years, features a group of immortal heroes forced out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s oldest enemy, The Deviants.”

Eternals opens in theaters on November 5th.