Even with a runtime of more than two hours,
"Eternals" is still a dense movie, full of exposition that reshapes the Marvel universe.
Meaningful moments are dropped in with barely enough time to breathe before the
conversation turns. These are the lines in "Eternals" that mean more than you realize.
When Dane Whitman finally comes face-to-face with Ikaris, the on-again,
off-again ex-boyfriend of Sersi, things are understandably a little awkward. For some time,
he's heard about his girlfriend's ex, and it's never easy to live in the shadow of
someone else -- especially when he's got several thousand years on you.
"How long were you together?"
"Five thousand years."
"I guess you could call that 'long-term.'"
Dane has been trying hard to get past Sersi's recollections
of "the pilot" -- so nicknamed because Ikaris can fly -- get it?
Now, as the information finally begins to coalesce,
the line shows that Dane is trying to play it cool. He's trying to be supportive of Sersi,
but is likely feeling a bit inadequate compared to the eternal being who can
literally fly. After all, how would you feel if you discovered your ex had dated Superman?
“Dad! That's Superman! With the cape? And you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes."
Dane's question to Sersi about why the Eternals sat out the whole Thanos thing
poses a question that many MCU fans have spent time thinking about themselves.
It also reflects on a hard-to-grasp reality about these long-living, god-like beings: they're just
middle management, made by the Celestials to exterminate Deviants -- and that's about it.
"We were instructed not to interfere until now."
When the Eternals were created and installed on Earth all those years ago, they were given orders,
and they have followed those orders well. Humanity has spent the last several hundred years thriving,
both in terms of population and the development of technologies and medicine. At the beginning
of the "current day" scenes in the film, the Deviants have seemingly been exterminated,
and the group have been rewarded with a well-deserved extended vacation.
As details of "the emergence" are revealed, it should serve as a cause for celebration among
the Eternals. It signifies a job well done, and although it means the end of humanity as
we know it, for the Eternals it's the equivalent of building a successful branch office and being
promoted to go head up a new region. A few of them are ready to take this pat on the back and
help the bosses with new development plans; this line shows how Sersi begins the film toeing the
company line, but eventually comes to realize she loves her underlings at the local branch.
It's obvious early on that Thena is grappling with some problems — and
this line reveals the dark side of that struggle. Through flashbacks,
we learn that the character is suffering from something called "Mahd Wy'ry",
which resembles what we earthlings typically see in our elderly and would call dementia.
Thena's eyes glaze over on occasion,
indicating an oncoming episode. She'll sometimes forget where she is in time,
who she's with, and assume they must be an enemy. This can be a very dangerous thing,
particularly with someone who has superpowers and can manifest deadly weapons at a moment's notice.
It is initially believed that Thena's Mahd Wy'ry is the result of being alive for so long that her
memories are becoming confused; as the audience later learns, it's somewhat the opposite. Thena's
problem isn't that she's forgetting things, it's that she remembers everything. Unlike the other
Eternals, her memory hasn't been effectively wiped clean with every new deployment; all
these memories have become a jumble, to the point where Gilgamesh needs to step in and serve as a
caretaker. But as it turns out, Thena knows enough to remember the true intentions of the Celestials.
"Find your own purpose — and one day, when we see ourselves again, I want you to tell
me what you've found." This line from Ajak drives home the maternal role she has had in the lives
of the Eternals for thousands of years — and the mistaken moment when they believe they've
eradicated the last Deviant threat from Earth. As Prime Eternal, she is the group's leader.
She has the greatest insight into the Celestials, helps set the tone, and with these words sends
the group on a long vacation where they are scattered to the ends of the world.
Kingo becomes a Bollywood star in India. Sersi moves to London,
becomes a teacher and falls in love. Ajak finds peace on a ranch in South Dakota,
Phastos settles in the suburbs of Chicago, where he also finds love and starts a family,
Druig lands in the Amazon and uses his powers to "protect" (or perhaps more accurately stated,
zombify) a village he comes to view as a utopia. Gilgamesh and Thena have settled in Australia,
while Makkari seems to have stayed in the spaceship and caught up on her reading.
What would you do if you had several hundred years of "me time" to yourself?
What the Eternals choose to do says as much about them as any line in the movie;
it's a shame that Ajak never got to hear their stories.
"Pretty impressive, right?"
Possibly the most impactful line from the film is the one where the Eternals realize
that everything dies, except for them, because they were never alive. It comes at a key moment
when the Eternals essentially have the rug pulled out from under them. For thousands of years they
have been immortal, invincible, near-omnipotent celestial beings; now, they understand that
they're essentially just worker ants whose hill is about to be destroyed so they can start anew.
The long-game of the Celestials was known by a select few of the Eternals,
and each reacted to it in different ways. It wasn't until the path forward became
clear to Sersi that someone became determined to let it go no further,
while possessing the ability to actually put a stop to it.
Where does the Marvel universe go from here? Earth now has a group of super-powered,
somewhat-revealed heroes. Soon, they might just help the Avengers save
the day — if only they can get past their own identity crisis.
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