Words: Giulia Lombardo

The wait is finally over. ‘Eternals’ – directed by Oscar-winning director Chloé Zao – has landed in cinemas. In the newest MCU movie we meet the Eternals, a group of immortal superheroes with semi-divine powers who are sent by the Celestials to Earth to fulfil a very important mission: protect the planet and its inhabitants from the Deviants, dangerous creatures that have been attacking the Earth for thousands of years.

Thanks to their cosmic powers, the Eternals were able to fight these dangerous predators and, at the same time, watch benevolently over the human race, providing them with knowledge and technological innovations to evolve and prosper. Over the years and with a complete annihilation of all the Deviants, the group separated and each of the Eternals went searching for their place in the world: the sudden reappearance of the monstrous predators has forced them to reunite again.

To enrich the already incredible storyline, the movie presents a star-studded cast, including: Gemma Chan (Sersi), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Lia McHugh (Sprite), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), Barry Keoghan (Druig), Don Lee (Giglamesh), Angelina Jolie (Thena) Kit Harington (Dane Whitman) and Salma Hayek (Ajak). Furthermore, the movie presents a well-known celebrity taking on his MCU debut: we’re talking about non-other than Harry Styles, in the role of Eros/Starfox.

A very strong cast, to which we add the charismatic Kumail Nanjani’s character Kingo (blending in on Earth as a Bollywood actor) and human history professor Dane Whitman (interpreted by Kit Harrington) perhaps the only character who does not fully express his potential and sees in ‘Eternals’ a transition path to the role of the Black Knight. ‘Eternals’ is a great ensemble work, a complex and stratified film that Zhao directs with great awareness, without neglecting any (or almost) of its protagonists. Although the film was designed by Zhao to show a “family” of outsider-superheroes compared to classic supergroups, ‘Eternals’ also manages to propose choreographically-well-structured and never-boring fights; the scenes are entertaining and every single shot shows how these heroes have been fighting together for thousands of years.

The soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi, former composer for ‘Game Of Thrones’, adds an additional touch of entertainment and greatness to the film hardly reached by other Marvel films, which often contain very anonymous and forgettable music. The soundtrack includes ‘Time’ by Pink Floyd, ‘Nach Mera Hero’ by Celina Sharma and ‘Juice’ by Lizzo. In addition, BTS have their song ‘Friends’ on the soundtrack, which was performed by Jimin and V for their album ‘Map Of The Soul:7’.

‘Eternals’ is long, complex and stratified, a love story that speaks of family, destiny and humanity. A mature film, in terms of themes and staging, but that does not even give up the amusing approach typical of the comic filmmakers of Marvel Studios. Zhao provides her own concept of epic, combining superhero theogony with mythology. The Marvel cinematic universe opens another important window, which looks at the recovery of key themes and matters and the introduction of new heroes.