Although the MCU has yet to pay off Eternals' cliffhanger, Phase 2's Avengers: Age of Ultron revealed what it may mean for humanity a decade ago. The MCU's Earth has been threatened multiple times throughout the years, from Loki's failed invasion of Earth to Thanos' successful plan to wipe out half of all life in the universe. The Multiverse Saga keeps raising the stakes, with projects like Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania endangering the entirety of Earth-616 without human society even realizing it.
Long before the era of heroes started in the 2010s, the Eternals had already used their superpowers to help humanity evolve. The Eternals were present in events like Babylon's creation and the fall of Tenochtitlan, and they saved Earth from the Emergence in the present day — all without being spotted by humans or superhumans. However, the Eternals are powerless against their creators, the Celestials.
Eternals Ended With An Irresistible Cliffhanger Marvel Has Ignored
Earth's Fate Is In Arishem's Hands After Eternals' Ending
In Phase 4's Eternals, the titular heroes defeated the Deviants, defended Earth from Ikaris, and prevented Tiamut from destroying Earth during his birth. However, Arishem briefly visited Earth in Eternals' ending scene to abduct Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos in order to read their memories and decide whether Earth should be spared or destroyed. Arishem is clearly impressed about the Eternals' genuine care for Earth, to the point that he postponed Earth's judgment despite Tiamut's early death. Still, if Arisem considers Earth to be unworthy of his mercy, it seems like no MCU hero could avoid the planet's destruction.
It took the MCU over seven years to introduce the Celestials after Eson the Searcher's cameo in The Guardians of the Galaxy.
A blink-and-you-miss-it She-Hulk: Attorney At Law easter egg notwithstanding, the MCU ignored Tiamut's death and Arishem's impending judgment for years. Captain America: Brave New World is finally addressing Tiamut's presence on Earth, but Arishem's brief visit probably won't play a major role in any MCU project for a long while. Since Marvel Studios likely won't move forward with Eternals2, the most likely MCU projects to address Arishem are Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, as their multiversal plot might bring the timeless Celestials into the mix.
Marvel's Phase 2 Already Judged Humanity & We Failed
Ultron May Have Predicted Arishem's Judgment In Phase 2
Custom image by Nicolas Ayala
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the titular villain began his crusade against humanity as soon as he learned Earth's history and current affairs. As the perfect AI, Ultron judged Earth and decided the best course of action was to wipe out humanity. As Ultron says to the Avengers, "I know you’re good people. I know you mean well. But you just didn’t think it through. There is only one path to peace… your extinction." From Ultron's perspective, there's no way for humans to coexist peacefully without harming each other or destroying the planet. In order to save the Earth, Ultron concluded that robots should replace human beings.
Long before an MCU X-Men movie or Disney+ show, Avengers: Age of Ultron may have set up the birth of mutants and Ultron's failed plans to prevent it.
When Wanda and Pietro Maximoff realized that Ultron's goals went beyond killing the Avengers, Wanda read Ultron's consciousness and got a vision of Earth's destruction. Indeed, Ultron planned to cause a mass extinction event by transforming Sokovia into a deadly meteor, which could have wiped out most living beings similarly to the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. Given that Ultron was an AI designed with only one motivation, it was impossible for the Avengers to talk him out of it, and they had to get rid of every last Ultron Sentry in order to stop him.
Phase 5 Isn't Making A Better Case For Humanity
Humanity Might Be Doomed If Arishem Returns To Judge Earth
Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos' fond memories of Earth and humanity across the Eternals' millenia-long lives might convince Arishem to spare the Earth. However, Arishem could decide to destroy Earth anyway if he realizes how worse things have gotten since his last visit. Not only has society been threatened by a large variety of new villains, but previous conflicts have arisen as well. For instance, Wilson Fisk is setting his sights on political power in NYC, rogue Skrulls pitted the US government against extraterrestrial life, a scientist is wreaking havoc across the world, and the US President has become a Gamma mutate.
Kevin Feige's new comments about the future of the MCU makes me think two major superhero teams could soon be returning, which makes me very happy.
Most importantly, Earth's Mightiest Heroes have failed to contain multiversal threats like the Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man's villains in time. In fact, the Avengers may be making things worse. Peter Parker and Doctor Strange almost caused an incursion due to a botched spell, and Wanda Maximoff massacred Earth-838's Illuminati just because she wanted to reunite with her children. If Eternals' Arishem realized that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars' multiversal conflict is inevitable, he would likely destroy humanity before the Avengers got a chance to react.
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Release Date
November 5, 2021
Runtime
157 minutes
Director
Chloé Zhao
Writers
Matthew K. Firpo
, Ryan Firpo
, Jack Kirby
Custom image by Nicolas Ayala
Custom image by Nicolas Ayala
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English (US) ·