Marvel Studios knows how to amp up its fanbase. Usually, fanfare like this is reserved for a Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con. But since that event isn’t happening this year (at least, not in person), Marvel took this opportunity to cut together a fantastic video that celebrated all of the amazing moments they, as a studio, have created over the years in movie theaters… and then tease what’s to come with new footage from Black Widow and -- finally -- Eternals! What are you waiting for? Watch!
The entire video is pretty amazing, if you are a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From the Stan Lee narration to the audience-reaction footage to the “Portals” scene in Avengers: Endgame, this video reminds us why Marvel has been luring audiences to movie theaters for the better part of the last decade.
But it wouldn’t be Marvel if the studio didn’t also include some footage from an anticipated upcoming movie, and with three in the immediate pipeline, Marvel Studios chose this video as the package for the first footage from Chloe Zhao’s Eternals. This has to mean that a trailer is imminent.
The footage is brief, but exciting. Salma Hayek kicks the Eternals portion off by looking like a supporting character from Chloe Zhao’s masterful early film, The Rider. We get a good shot of the entire cast (above), so action shots of Angelina Jolie swinging her sword as Thena, and Gemma Chan’s Sersi promising viewers that the Eternals are the ones who “changed everything.” That could mean in this movie. It might also mean that they change the direction of Marvel as the studio dives deeper into Phase Four.
The remainder of the clip was a litany of title confirmations for a bunch of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that we knew were coming, but they now are better defined. The Black Panther sequel that is going to have to solve how to move the franchise forward following the death of Chadwick Boseman has been revealed to be titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
While the sequels for Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and the Guardians of the Galaxy all received official titles and release dates. Marvel is now dated and slated through May 5, 2023. And yes, I did get tricked into thinking that Marvel Studios was also about to give us our first look at Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland together in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Might that still happen?!
The Eternals footage looked different from most showy and glossy Marvel content. It looks like Chloe Zhao’s approach to a superhero film, grounded in the Earth and centered on emotions like love and faith. Watch Nomadland and see her visual approach, then sit back and wait for that full Eternals trailer to arrive, hopefully sometime soon. It’s time for us to update our Upcoming Marvel Movies guide with all of this new information. Make sure you have that bookmarked.
