Marvel’s $402 Million Box Office Bomb Finally Explained By Director 5 Years Later

After Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios could seemingly do no wrong, but they’ve had a bumpy past handful of years over the course of the Multiverse Saga. In stark contrast from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2010s heyday, not every project these days resonates with audiences. Eternals is a prime example; while it has its fair share of admirers, it was the first MCU film to earn a rotten critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it underwhelmed at the box office (even when taking the immediate post-pandemic theatrical landscape into account). This year marks Eternals‘ fifth anniversary, and director Chloé Zhao has been reflecting back on the experience.

During an appearance on the podcast Awards Chatter, Zhao discussed her time on Eternals, sharing that it wasn’t a major priority for Marvel Studios before she signed on. “Eternals was not high on their priority list,” she said. “Because it’s a quite unique IP and it [was] only on their list of potential players … You know, with Marvel, it’s very much a thing to find the right filmmaker before they say, ‘That’s the IP we’re gonna go for.’”

She added that Kevin Feige told her, “I know that no one, no one told you to make that film. Literally no one in the world was interested in it or told you to do it, but you wanted to do it.” Zhao was hired to direct Eternals because Feige recognized that she had a clear passion for the material.

The Eternals Likely Won’t Have a Future in the MCU

There was a lot of excitement leading up to Eternals when it was about to premiere. Zhao was coming off Oscar wins for Nomadland, and the film was introducing a whole new team of superpowered beings to the MCU. Throughout the Infinity Saga, Marvel had a lot of success elevating obscure comic book characters to household names (Guardians of the Galaxy being the most obvious example), so there was hope that Eternals could be the franchise’s next big thing. However, while some appreciated Zhao’s ambition, the general consensus is that Eternals fell short of its aspirations and it didn’t fully work.

The mixed critical reception combined with lackluster box office meant an Eternals sequel was not a priority (despite end credits sequences teasing Black Knight and Eros). After hearing Zhao’s latest comments about the film, it isn’t surprising that a follow-up never came to fruition. The director seemed to be the only person behind the scenes who was truly interested in the property. Even as Zhao was putting the film together, Marvel probably didn’t envision it as a major part of the overarching plan. If Eternals had fared better critically and/or commercially, then perhaps the studio would have changed course, but seeing the response made it difficult to justify a return trip to this corner of the MCU.

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I’m Worried Marvel Will Never Resolve This Huge 4 Year Old Eternals Mystery

Marvel is in the process of bringing the Multiverse Saga to a close, with Avengers: Doomsday premiering at the end of the year. That film is bringing several aspects of Marvel movie history together, but no Eternals actors have been confirmed for either Doomsday or Secret Wars. Even though those characters would likely be helpful in a fight against a powerful villain like Doctor Doom, it’s unlikely any of them will appear. Marvel is hoping Doomsday gets the franchise back on track, and they’re leaning heavily on fan-favorite legacy elements to generate hype. Bringing the Eternals back into the fold would just make an already stacked ensemble even more crowded.

Secret Wars is going to serve as a soft reset for the MCU as a whole, streamlining the continuity as the franchise starts another new era. The nature of that approach means some things will be carried over, but it’s highly unlikely the Eternals get that treatment. Marvel is using the reset to move on from story beats and characters that didn’t really connect with viewers, so the Eternals are going to remain on the shelf. It’s an unfortunate fate for an IP that had such promise (Kumail Nanjiani signed a contract that included sequels, video games, and theme park attractions), but at least Marvel was willing to trust Zhao and take a big swing. It didn’t work, but that’s the nature of the business.

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