Eternals will explain why the MCU's newest supergroup didn't stop Thanos

Eternals is officially going to answer the question everyone’s been asking since the emergence of the immortal superheroes in the MCU: why didn’t they stop Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War?

Entertainment Weekly reveals Chloé Zhao’s upcoming epic will broach the awkward topic of why the millennia-spanning beings decided to sit things out while the Mad Titan snapped his fingers and wiped out half the universe.

There’s even already an answer-of-sorts: "Their mission is to focus on the Deviants and never interfere with human affairs," according to the EW feature. It’s not much, but it’s something – and it’ll be fascinating to see what the full details are when the Marvel movie drops on November 5.

Eternals won’t just be looking to the past, however. Despite starting at the very beginning of human civilization, the movie will "have major ripple effects on future stories" according to the movie’s producers. Marvel Phase 4 has already opened up the multiverse and introduced a time-travelling new villain. How Eternals fits into that grand tapestry of interlocking stories remains to be seen.

But whether it’ll be coming exclusively to cinemas is another matter. Kevin Feige has recently given a non-committal "we will see" answer when asked if Eternals would be available on Disney Plus at launch.

First up, though, is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The martial arts MCU movie, starring Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, has received hugely positive reactions after its world premiere – and kicks off a season that sees Shang-Chi and Eternals joined by Spider-Man 3 later in 2021.

Here are all the new superhero movies heading your way in 2021 (and beyond).