Art and Culture # 56: Eternals and the Future of Marvel’s Phase 4
-For the Uncensored!
I never thought I would be talking about this, but like every great phenomena of its age, Marvel cinematic franchises have been facing a soul crushing question. What is the right way to say this? Much of cinema has changed. If you want the full picture of the Hollywood industry, read the Big Picture, as it details a fascinating yet sobering thought that has been with me since Age of Ultron. With over 59 percent for the Eternals Rotten tomatoes score, this is not just good news for Marvel dissenters like myself, but also for the industry to try and retake the cinemas. Maybe Dune will help return cinema back to subtlety and a mysterious edge because after all sugar and no spice, maybe all too literally for Dune fans, prove there time has come. With Variety’s Clayton Davis’s November 4th, 2021article only calling for a nomination for “visual effects” and no matter if Eternals is directed by a woman, the dread around Marvel doesn’t prove anything but failure in the long run in both digital and DVD sales[1]. But this isn’t all doom and gloom. While it managed to make 71 million dollars over the initial release, and according to audience reviews, by Thorben W, on November 8th, 2021 “I'm not sure if the critics and the audience saw the same movie... I saw a thrilling, well written and outstanding casted movie that entertained me the whole time. It will change the whole MCU forever.”[i]
There are a number of reasons why Marvel will never reclaim the critical praise they once had, but sometimes maybe the critics are right, and never is a critic right for the same reasons I can dislike a movie the critics/audience love. The Lion King remake also failed to convince critics and audiences it had the same intensity as the original cartoon did. I grew out of Disney ever since I played video games, so maybe these retellings were not for me or for anyone with a solid background of consuming or studying Art and Culture. Although when Disney acquired Studio Ghibli that was another win for the Asian market and the fans who adore Studio Ghibli and anime itself. I think after a while, you can’t watch Studio Ghibli all the time. For any Dune fans, Nausicaa Valley of the Wind is so blatantly a love letter to Children of Dune, you can almost see it without even knowing.[ii] Even if you didn’t know, maybe there’s a benefit in to ignorance. People like pieces of art for different reasons. People who consume entertainment don’t really want to see the allusion to other art, or really care. It’s good to just enjoy something. I think that has evolved, and it's fine to see what other interpretations have come before. But ignorance can only last you so long once you absorb so much of the past, present, and future of artistic culture. This may be an aside, but it’s important to build up context.
As the funnier the Marvel movies got, the less interested I became. But the humor was so great that it crippled the series in Avengers: Endgame, as they couldn’t find a balance of how to create a serious story but also give it some levity too. They let the humor become the film, and avoided any real issues that could have helped balance it with serious issues. I think the Captain America series had the best balance when it came to issues of government involvement against the private citizen, and studying what vigilantism could mean if the government wanted to get involved when Captain America questions his very own government. If Captain America were the Manchurian Candidate and Day of the Condor, everything after felt like Candyland sliding towards its eventual demise, be it five ten, twenty years down the road. They were consistently releasing more than two films a year, an unprecedented landscape for film goers. It was a boom for people who just wanted to see a movie.
They were enjoyable, but no way would I own the rest of stand-alone films. I don’t hate or love the Marvel films, as I grew someone despondent in how their ten year reign watered down cinematic films ability to tell a heavy story. It meant that Hollywood had to think about the film goer again, and that’s not a bad thing. Case in point, movies had to adapt under the Marvel phase, and many creatives saw this as a new age, and how much Marvel ruined cinematic story telling. Martin Scorsese, a legendary filmmaker and a lover of his films, saw fit to call out Marvel for not taking any risks, as to which Kevin Feige responded, “we take risks” after the Thanos snap, but brought them all back for the finale of Endgame. Nobody in their right mind thinks that is a creative risk, Petey. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) took more creative risks compared to twenty years of Marvel films that contained all sugar and no spice. So Martin Scorsese is right. I covered this as well, but it proved that Hollywood was not going to sit down and just accept this wave of Flash Gordon story with a better coat of graphics.
Another reason to consider why the Marvel cinematic future ended. Over 20 years of good public will, and the strength of box office receipts that dwarf any regular person’s paycheck prove they had it in the bag. They could fuck their way through more coke and strippers and produce half rate Marvel films and nobody would blink. There is one contested film that ended the Marvel hype train into a comatose limp wristed blood bath: Captain Marvel. [iii] Brie Larson complained about a horrible film, A Wrinkle in Time, and saying it only caters to a white audience, is another reason why Marvel’s reign of moviedom ended. Ladies and Gentlemen, this has been covered so much that bringing up might just make me want to get a tetanus shot. I am sure the fanboys and girls of Captain Marvel will be mad,[iv] even they know that Brie Larson’s publicity stunt didn’t help matters. I’m not going to belabor the point, but a stupid celebrity can cause the greatest fandoms to splinter in a thousand pieces.
Another point to make out of the most obvious, a small but personal story out of the Marvel saga is that Jeremey Renner, at the height of Avengers, back in the early 2000’s, said a remark the company didn’t like. Because, according to the Hindustan Times, “Renner candidly said that he wasn’t on board with director Joss Whedon’s decision to leave Hawkeye in a hypnotized state for nearly the entire film. In The Avengers, Hawkeye is put under Loki’s spell and made to do the villain’s bidding. “At the end of the day, 90% of the movie, I’m not the character I signed on to play. I’m literally in there for two minutes, and then all of a sudden…” Renner said.”[v] Marvel saw fit to fire Renner, but without Joss Whedon, he would have never played Hawk Eye for as long as he did. Because Marvel is ultimately notorious for interfering with directors who want them to make the films they want. If an actor is not on board with the rewrites or suggestions, they will be fired. So, that’s another reason why I’m particularly overjoyed with Marvel’s demise. They will make their vision, no matter how tone deaf the material can be, because not everyone wants to see a Terrence Malick film.
But since Marvels Endgame, there has been fuck all of interest on that front. Don’t let the 500 million dollar receipts of Shang Chi fool you. I haven’t heard anyone care or talk about it. And this brings us to Eternals and it’s horrendous Rotten Tomatoes score.[vi] No matter what the trailers could give, and Angelina Jolie phoning in her worst performance in decades, I do see why Marvel is not living up to its expectations. With critics disliking the film, this could only spell doom for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic universe. It’s hard to give me reason to see these films. If I don’t want to own these films, I am rather unsurprised by the way Marvel put more sugar rather than spice in there films. Nothing could amount to the way people felt about the Joss Whedon interpretations of the Avengers and its sequel Age of Ultron. It proves with such volumes of Marvel tales that concurred, over 62 pieces of media in total, it was a golden age for Marvel, and fell so hard that proves that critics don’t want to protect Marvel anymore. And little Brie Larson went onto a glorious YouTube career, which nobody cares about either, and nobody is asking her if she’s going to be in anymore Marvel films. And if actors and directors can’t tell the vision that is needed to make the flaccid Marvel movies work, then that’s what led to their downfall. This isn’t just about Eternals, this was coming for a long time. I think the media wants to forget about the sins that Marvel had to do in order to make garbage films look like master class films when they said nothing and moved beyond the speed of logic, while making us laugh in the meantime. And maybe that’s all Marvel was. Good popcorn movies, and meant to die in the dust.
Now to be fair, every film has its due date. These films did mean something to people. I wasn’t its targeted audience, but all art can be appreciated within the context its given. I have no idea what the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has in store, but as much as they invigorated movie goers a like, it was a win-win. It makes sense why people want entertainment. But if all you consume is the Marvel Cinematic universe, you have to appreciate the art that came before it. Like The Godfather, The Deer Hunter, Scarface, Roshomon, The Thing (1982), Blade Runner, and all the films that practice the art of subtlety. But as of November 7th’s Eternal Box office being 69 million, the Cinematic Universe may have reached it’s peak. The stories all came together. Nothing lasts forever, but we can appreciate both. While my sarcastic side can probably dissuade you otherwise of my enjoyment of the Marvel movies reign, it’s not that I don’t get the Marvel films. It’s that every film universe has its day. Just retire Marvel before it enters the Disney Star Wars films phase, or even the live action Disney Reboot phase. And don’t add a warning label about racist things from the past. Or rewriting it to match new standards. That Go Woke Go Broke phase is why Marvel must retire. Before it loses all the potency of what fans remembered.
[1] https://variety.com/2021/awards/awards/eternals-oscars-visual-effects-chloe-zhao-marvel-studios-1235104160/.
[i] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/979337148.
[ii] But when you watch Berserk and read it, the idea of watching Studio Ghibli becomes less than appealing.
[iii] https://www.statista.com/statistics/323886/marvel-comics-films-production-costs-box-office-revenue/.
[iv] If some of you exist, I feel sorry for you. If some of you watched that film twenty times in the theater, I hope you have your tits and balls back now.
[v] https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/when-jeremy-renner-dissed-hawkeye-in-first-avengers-film-i-m-not-the-character-i-signed-on-to-play/story-iE8VBPKuKhcFI2yXTGVtUL.html.
[vi] I’m just waiting for when they will block users from disliking the film since we know Rotten Tomatoes cares about the people who like media. And it probably happened while I was writing this. But with some audiences sort of liking the film, and defending it, maybe it will continue. But to capture the marvel magic in a new way, is going to be tough.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 19 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Subscribe as well so you can get my articles in your inbox every time. Every little bit helps in the war against Big Tech. Thanks for reading.