Marvel's Eternals Just Broke An MCU Record, But Not The Good Kind

With the release date of the pandemic-delayed MCU film "Eternals" right around the corner, many fans are eager to see how the world's biggest superhero franchise will continue to expand. It seems that "Eternals" has already set a notable record ahead of the film's full release, but likely not the one that fans were hoping for.

Like many of the already-released and upcoming films in Phase 4, "Eternals" explores the story of heroes and villains that come from sections of the Marvel universe that might not be well known to the average fan of the MCU. The Eternals come from a storyline that crosses vast expanses of time, and the new film, "Eternals," doesn't shy away from this epic approach. Fans will see heroes like Sersi (Gemma Chan), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Ikaris (Richard Madden), and many more reunite after centuries apart to protect humanity against their ultimate enemy, The Deviants.

While "Eternals" will not be available across theaters in North America until November 5, reviewers have already gotten their hands on the film, and their thoughts have started to trickle out. Unfortunately, it appears that the film is dividing those critics in a way that the MCU hasn't seen in nearly a decade. Here is the undesirable record that "Eternals" just managed to crack.

When fans rank the Marvel films from worst to best, there's usually an easy contender for the movie at the bottom: "Thor: The Dark World." While the second "Thor" film isn't necessarily a terrible movie, it had just enough go wrong, or at least fail to go right, that the film is often remembered as the least effective of the franchise's venerable run.

However, that might be changing, as reviewers' divided assessments of "Eternals" move the film to last place, at least on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans who take a look at Rotten Tomatoes' list of every MCU film ranked by Tomatometer score will note that "Thor: The Dark World" unsurprisingly sits in last place with 66%. However, at the time of this writing, "Eternals" had officially plunged below that number, with a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

All of that doesn't necessarily mean that "Eternals" is a failure. Critics have had plenty to say about "Eternals," with some praising director Chloé Zhao's stunning visuals and the film's ambitious scope. Others, however, found it disappointing, with some even calling it boring and overly long.

Beyond that, the 63% rating "Eternals" currently holds is only based on 87 reviews, whereas "Black Widow" had 433 by the time it walked away with a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. This means that "Eternals" might still turn it around — but it is definitely a disappointing start for the film.