MCU sequels used to be a regular occurrence, but Marvel Studios/Disney haven't been as quick to green-light direct follow-ups of late - and with good reason.
Several recent sequels/threequels - including Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels - underperformed, and with Eternals not only having the dubious honor of being the first Marvel Studios movie to drop to "rotten" status on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but also finishing up its U.S. run with a disappointing $164.9 million to give it the lowest domestic haul of any MCU-set movie aside from 2008's The Incredible Hulk ($134M), a sequel always seemed like a long shot.
Even so, it was difficult to imagine that Kevin Feige would simply decide to forget about these characters, and rumors have persisted that a sequel was in the early planning stages.
We're still not sure how accurate these reports were, but if Eternals 2 ever was in development, it isn't any more.
During a recent interview with Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington (who made his MCU debut as Dane Whitman in the movie), Variety confirmed that any plans that may have been in place for a sequel have been scrapped.
Not exactly a surprise - especially given Feige's recent comments at SDCC - but does this mean we won't be seeing Sersi, Thena, Kingo and the others in live-action form (they are expected to appear in the Marvel Zombies animated series) again?
We'd say at least some of 'em will show up down the line, although they are not expected to appear in Avengers: Secret Wars.
What did you think of Eternals? Was it unfairly maligned upon release? Drop us a comment down below, and click here to find out what we made of the film.
Marvel Studios’ Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again.
The outstanding ensemble cast includes Gemma Chan as humankind-loving Sersi, Richard Madden as the all-powerful Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as cosmic-powered Kingo, Lia McHugh as the eternally young, old-soul Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as the intelligent inventor Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as the super-fast Makkari, Barry Keoghan as aloof loner Druig, Don Lee as the powerful Gilgamesh, with Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, with Salma Hayek as the wise and spiritual leader Ajak, and Angelina Jolie as the fierce warrior Thena.