ETERNALS: How The Marvel Studios Film Created A Continuity Mistake For An UBER TV Show

ETERNALS: How The Marvel Studios Film Created A Continuity Mistake For An UBER TV Show

Marvel Studios' Eternals made its presence felt in the TV industry in the most unexpected of ways: The film became a continuity error for a Showtime television series about the creation of Uber.

Feature Opinion
By DanielKlissmman - Jun 23, 2022 07:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Eternals

Released in 2021, Eternals introduced a new team of superheroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film, directed by Chloé Zhao, was not the hit many expected — critically, at least. The movie garnered a 47% Tomatometer score (Audience score of 78%), but did find success at the box office, earning $402 million worldwide during the pandemic.

Even with its revenue, though, Eternals didn't have the same impact on the 2010/2020s pop-culture zeitgeist that previous MCU entries had. Having said that, some may be surprised to hear that the film did have an unexpectedly fun (yet, admittedly fleeting) impact on one project — Showtime's Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.

Released in 2022, Super Pumped is an anthology series that stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. The show charts his years of building up the company until his eventual departure. The Battle for Uber's connection to Eternals come in its first episode, "Grow or Die."

Near the end of the chapter, Travis Kalanick steps out of the Uber building (at that point in the story known as "UberCab"). As he walks down the street, a bus appears behind him for a few seconds (at the 34:44-minute mark). The bus features an Eternals poster, promoting its 2021 release.

Uber-Eternals

The continuity error comes from the fact that this scene is supposed to take place in 2011 at the latest (UberCab rebranded as "Uber" in 2010), a little over ten years before the Marvel Studios film came out.

It's an easy detail to miss, but a surprising one, given how it muddles up the show's continuity, at least for those familiar with the MCU's release schedule. 

Period series are a challenge to craft. Even after scanning sets and shots with a fine-tooth comb, tiny details like the one spotted above can seep through. There have been, after all, multiple cases of series and films with much more significant mistakes than the one in Super Pumped, such as Game of Thrones' infamous coffee cup and 2019's Little Women's apparent thermos in a shot featuring Timothée Chalamet's Laurie. 

Ultimately, such errors are near-inevitable in period projects — even ones as close to the present as Super Pumped. As such, Eternals' unexpected appearance on that bus is not a significant mistake. It is, however, amusing to see that a Marvel Studios film inadvertently caused a continuity error in a Showtime series entirely unrelated to the company or its franchise. 

Eternals is available to stream on Disney+, and is also available to purchase on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber is streaming on Showtime and on Hulu.

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Itwasme
Itwasme - 6/23/2022, 7:48 PM
Pretty sure it's time to panic.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 6/23/2022, 7:49 PM
bobevanz
bobevanz - 6/23/2022, 7:50 PM
Riveting article.
inkniron
inkniron - 6/23/2022, 7:54 PM
I think this one just gets filed under shit happens.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 6/23/2022, 7:56 PM
Wow, that's REALLY stretching for an article.
Are we sure that "DanielKlissmman" isn't just another "HamiltonParker"?
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 6/23/2022, 8:03 PM
just finished DS2 and saw the externals.... haven't been on here too frequently but I'm worried for some of the quality of MCU films moving forward :(


but i will say i'm so excited for thor4 mainly for Gorr, one of my top 5 favorite villains
LukeCage2155
LukeCage2155 - 6/23/2022, 8:18 PM
@knocturnalzen10 - Okay.
Blahsketcase94
Blahsketcase94 - 6/24/2022, 12:51 AM
@knocturnalzen10 - Doctor Strange 2 was awesome. What are you on about?
XMenGiveItToYa
XMenGiveItToYa - 6/23/2022, 8:06 PM
Lol what the [frick] Dan, this is almost Josh levels of pathetic
DanielKlissmman
DanielKlissmman - 6/23/2022, 9:11 PM
@XMenGiveItToYa - Hi! I love catching details like this one and write about them.

I appreciate the feedback, and I understand you didn’t like the article. But there’s no need for name-calling, my friend :)
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 6/23/2022, 8:08 PM
Probably the first time I've seen the Audience score mentioned (and it's only to combat the critic score). I'd like to see the Audience score referenced more times than when it's beneficial to the opinions of the writer.
Origame
Origame - 6/23/2022, 8:13 PM
Ok, first of all, this isn't a problem caused by eternals. If eternals didn't exist then another movie would've taken that bus advert (or maybe an ad campaign that didn't exist back then). This mistake was completely out of this film's hands.

Second, this really shows a new level of just needing to write an article about something.
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 6/23/2022, 8:32 PM
What is this article 😐?
ossie85
ossie85 - 6/23/2022, 8:49 PM

Cool story.
Dotanuki
Dotanuki - 6/23/2022, 8:50 PM
HEADS SHOULD ROLL!!
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/23/2022, 9:02 PM
Yikes josh
DanielKlissmman
DanielKlissmman - 6/23/2022, 9:06 PM
@McMurdo - Hey! I believe I’ve told you I’m not Josh a few times by now. I might be confusing you with another user, though. Apologies if I am :)
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/23/2022, 9:17 PM
@DanielKlissmman - yes I'm trying to be cheeky 😜
Blahsketcase94
Blahsketcase94 - 6/24/2022, 12:52 AM
@DanielKlissmman - Dude's a troll. Don't bother explaining yourself to him.
TheNZNatural
TheNZNatural - 6/24/2022, 1:00 AM
Just think, if it had been a Morbius advert, no one would have even noticed with all the delays it had.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 6/24/2022, 3:44 AM
Was kinda hoping for a dense superlayered thing but I guess it's just an anachronism.

Anyway, anybody who's seen the show? Just like with The Dropout it sounds interesting, but I haven't really been convinced so far this is a must-watch.
Toblakai
Toblakai - 6/24/2022, 5:55 AM
I mean, who really cares?
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