Marvel’s Phase Four is still in its comparatively early stages, and already there have been massive changes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that have not yet been fully processed. The biggest example is the creation of the Multiverse, to which two Disney+ series and two MCU feature films have been devoted. But others are less noticeable, in part because they haven’t been referenced nearly as much outside of their pertinent project and because the story of Phase Four has barely entered its second act.
And yet, there’s a colossal elephant in the room that highlights some of the ongoing challenges for the franchise. Eternals posited a massive change in the universe that has yet to be acknowledged. Considering the scope of it – and Eternals' less-than-stellar critical and box office results – it creates a unique dilemma. Ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away.
Eternals had issues integrating with the larger MCU almost from the beginning, starting with the pre-release questions of why they were no-shows when Thanos successfully murdered half the universe at the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity War. It answered the question with an even bigger threat than Thanos: the Celestials, beings who grow inside the cores of planets until population growth on the surface is high enough to allow them to be “born.” The act inevitably destroys the planet in question and everyone on it. Earth is one of them, and while The Snap bought it some time, Thanos' undoing in Avengers: Endgame made the planet ripe for its Celestial, Tiamut, to be born.
The Eternals stopped it by going against their mandate and defying their creator, the Celestial Arishem, to save the human population that they had come to love. With help from the Uni-Mind, a common connection between all Eternals, Sersi succeeded in transforming Tiamut into marble just as he was emerging from the Indian Ocean. Some of the Eternals then set out into space to warn other planets carrying Celestials, while the few who remained on Earth were claimed by Arishem, who intended to judge them for their actions.
All of it is new material for the MCU – packed with new terms and concepts – and while the script bends over backward to incorporate its elements into the existing events, it’s still a lot to absorb. The heroes’ status as essentially immortal alien robots made it difficult to identify with them – not normally a problem in a franchise known for relatable protagonists – and the film suffered accordingly. It currently sits with a 47 percent Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes – the worst of any theatrical release in the MCU – and its anemic box office sits near the bottom of the franchise’s rankings. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness surpassed its total global box office take in one weekend.
That, and its inherent isolation from the remainder of the MCU, makes it easy to chalk up as a misstep and move on. It even removed them from planet Earth just to be on the safe side. And yet it still had an impact that can’t be ignored. Tiamut’s body is a change to the world on par with The Snap itself, and the questions it raises match those leading up to the events of Infinity War. Figures like Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel would likely have some inkling of what happened and demand answers from those responsible. The impact on the average person's psychology would be similar, especially so soon after the shared trauma of The Snap. But, for whatever reason, it remains ignored thus far: an outlier in a franchise known for its tightly interwoven storylines.
The real world contains copious evidence of humanity’s ability to bounce back after seemingly cataclysmic events. The MCU is no different, particularly concerning The Blip and its attendant shake-up of everything everywhere. But the franchise has now delivered Spider-Man: No Way Home, Hawkeye, Moon Knight and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, all without mentioning the giant marble head now poking out of the ocean. Whether there are plans to address it or not remains to be seen, but the longer it remains unaddressed, the more persistent the questions will grow.