'Eternals' Review: Sandy Kenyon tells Avengers to move aside and make room

BySandy Kenyon OTRC logo

Friday, November 5, 2021

'Eternals' Review: Move aside Avengers, and make room

Move over "Fantastic Four," and get out of the way "Avengers." It's time to make room for the "Eternals."

Fans of the Marvel comic book characters will find them much changed for the movie, although their super powers remain intact.

They have been praised as "prototypes" of a more diverse kind of superhero.

Marvel's "Eternals" stars are proud to represent the film's diverse cast and crew of the latest MCU superhero family.

Actress Lauren Ridloff's character Makkari appeared in the originals comic books as a big white dude who was not hard of hearing. But in the new blockbuster "Eternals," the same character is played by a woman of color who is deaf.

Ridloff, speaking through an interpreter, credited producer Nate Moore and director Chloe Zhao with being open to new ideas.

"I felt like what Chloe and Nate did was just customize the Eternals to match the people that were interested, that they were interested in working with," she said.

Fans of a series of Marvel comic books featuring The Eternals know that among them is a character who can move at the speed of sound named Makkari.

Those people include the group's leader, played by Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie's Thena, who is the Goddess of War and can manifest different weapons.

These aliens have been on earth for 7,000 years, and their primary job is to keep evil deviants at bay. Time has caused them to separate, but an emergency brings them back together.

Brian Tyree Henry co-stars as one half of a gay couple, and he shines as the inventor, Phastos, who can assemble anything out of any kind of technology.

Like the other Eternals, he can also travel back and forth through time.

Zhao brings her unique vision from small, independent films and applies it to a project costing more than $200 million.