It's funny ... for me The Eternals for me was the moment I knew the MCU was dead to me ... because unlike everyone else ... I liked it.
At the time, looking on all of the comic and MCU fans criticising it, I couldn't help but notice that there was a kinda lack of appreciation of the film as a film and that most criticism came from some relatively undefined (or unspoken) expectation of epicness and big-arc tie-in momentum. And at the time, I personally predicted that the MCU was going to "fail" because its fans didn't quite know what they wanted except for some massive hype dopamine hit to cheer along to in the cinema.
Which is great, except that the MCU had clearly bottomed out with its ability to do that in Infinity War (clearly better than Endgame IMO) and was trying to spread its wings and create films and characters with different vibes and energies ... all within the same universe. I was there for it and rather enjoyed Eternals. Many said it wasn't an MCU film ... and I was like yea ... that's why I enjoyed it. It seemed pretty clear to me that the MCU and its fans were in a mutually dependent downward spiral. And if you look at what's come out since then, it sure looks like that's come to pass.
If MCU fans (and producers) had understood that you gotta enjoy different palettes and vibes to enrich the universe and make the big moments hit hard ... the MCU could have been an rather interesting film phenomenon by leveraging comic's ability/tradition to fuse sci-fi and fantasy at multiple scales. Instead, what we've gotten since Inifinity War is a fusion that's taken all the worse parts, IMO.
Interesting! I suspect it's one of those things that's a reasonably good divider or litmus test.
Like there are two kinds of MCU fans ... those that hated Eternals and those who liked or appreciated it.
And, not to be snobby or anything ... but maybe finding a way to make both types of fans happy was the key, and instead the MCU has probably tried to listen a bit too much to the haters.
It's funny ... for me The Eternals for me was the moment I knew the MCU was dead to me ... because unlike everyone else ... I liked it.
At the time, looking on all of the comic and MCU fans criticising it, I couldn't help but notice that there was a kinda lack of appreciation of the film as a film and that most criticism came from some relatively undefined (or unspoken) expectation of epicness and big-arc tie-in momentum. And at the time, I personally predicted that the MCU was going to "fail" because its fans didn't quite know what they wanted except for some massive hype dopamine hit to cheer along to in the cinema.
Which is great, except that the MCU had clearly bottomed out with its ability to do that in Infinity War (clearly better than Endgame IMO) and was trying to spread its wings and create films and characters with different vibes and energies ... all within the same universe. I was there for it and rather enjoyed Eternals. Many said it wasn't an MCU film ... and I was like yea ... that's why I enjoyed it. It seemed pretty clear to me that the MCU and its fans were in a mutually dependent downward spiral. And if you look at what's come out since then, it sure looks like that's come to pass.
If MCU fans (and producers) had understood that you gotta enjoy different palettes and vibes to enrich the universe and make the big moments hit hard ... the MCU could have been an rather interesting film phenomenon by leveraging comic's ability/tradition to fuse sci-fi and fantasy at multiple scales. Instead, what we've gotten since Inifinity War is a fusion that's taken all the worse parts, IMO.
I completely agree with everything you said.
Interesting! I suspect it's one of those things that's a reasonably good divider or litmus test.
Like there are two kinds of MCU fans ... those that hated Eternals and those who liked or appreciated it.
And, not to be snobby or anything ... but maybe finding a way to make both types of fans happy was the key, and instead the MCU has probably tried to listen a bit too much to the haters.