Marvel’s Eternals Will Have A Ripple Effect On All Of MCU Phase 4

Eternals producer Nate Moore teases the film will have a “ripple effect” across MCU’s Phase 4 thanks to its story and powerful characters.

Marvel has teased how Eternals will have a ripple effect across the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Phase 4. Despite the lack of knowledge about the Eternals in the general public when Marvel Studios announced the movie in 2019, excitement for the movie has continued to build significantly since then. This comes in part thanks to the hiring of Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao to helm the project, the all-star ensemble cast, and a look and mythology that sets Eternals apart from most of the other MCU movies.

Even though most people around the world aren’t yet familiar with the Eternals (a group of superhuman beings created by the Celestials), Marvel is expected to let them be the focus of their own story. The third movie in Phase 4 is set after Avengers: Endgame, but there are no confirmed plans for it to feature massive character crossovers. These could always come as a surprise, however, as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ post-credits scene reminded viewers. While Eternals could follow a similar model, the movie is also now confirmed to have a massive impact on where the MCU goes next.

Related: Marvel’s Eternals Powers Explained: What Each Team Member Can Do

During a visit to the set of Eternals at Pinewood Studios in January 2020, producer Nate Moore said the movie will have a ripple effect on all of Phase 4. Moore spoke about the film’s impact on what is to come in the MCU as part of a round-table interview that Screen Rant took part in. He teased that the ripple effect will be felt from what the movie does with not only the Eternals heroes themselves, but also the Celestials and Deviants.

“It’ll definitely have an impact and ways, hopefully, that feel surprising but earned obviously when you deal with characters like Eternals and Celestials and even Deviants the ripple effect is quite beyond this film. So we have some ideas of how that– again, that can help be the spine of what Phase 4 gets to be, but we always leave room for invention because other movies inform as we go.”

The ever-expanding nature of the MCU means that every new movie and TV show will have an impact in some form, so the idea that Eternals will include plot elements or characters that will affect upcoming projects isn’t a huge surprise. However, this is a great reminder that Eternals is still a major part of where the MCU is going, even if it isn’t a major crossover movie. Where and how the ripple effect will be felt is interesting to consider, as none of the movie’s characters are confirmed to appear in another project so far. This could be tied to the film’s apocalyptic-level event known as The Emergence.

There are also plenty of theories about what Eternals could reveal in terms of Marvel’s wider Phase 4 narrative. One of the leading theories is that this will be where Marvel shows the fall of Atlantis ahead of Namor’s expected debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Fans have also long speculated that Eternals will include a set-up for the MCU’s X-Men, since the Eternals and mutants are both creations of the Celestials in the comics. If even one of these theories pans out, the effects of Eternals will be felt well beyond Phase 4.

More: Eternals: Every Change To Marvel’s New Superheroes We Already Know

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