Up until the release of Eternals, there were a lot of people under the impression that the Marvel Cinematic Universe could do no wrong, with every single one of the franchise’s previous 25 features all securing a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, even Thor: The Dark World.
Despite being directed by two-time Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, Eternals suffered the ignominy of becoming the MCU’s worst-reviewed feature film ever, and by quite some distance. The cosmic epic’s current 47% score is a whole 19 points behind Chris Hemsworth’s second solo outing, but the fans remain in staunch disagreement with critics.
Eternals proved to be hugely popular among aficionados of the superhero series, and even crossed the $400 million barrier at the box office, so the demand for a sequel is definitely there. In further proof, third-party aggregator Samba TV has revealed the millennia-spanning saga scored a bigger opening week on Disney Plus than Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
As per the data, 2 million subscribers with Samba-enabled TV checked out Eternals in the first seven days it was available to stream, compared to the 1.7 million accrued by Shang-Chi. The latter may have won better reviews and earned more money from theaters, but it’s clear the former is every bit as popular.