With the beginning of November now here, Marvel Studios has officially delivered its 26th movie and 30th project overall with Chloé Zhao's Eternals in theaters worldwide. Featuring an expansive look into 7000 years of human history within the MCU through the eyes of about a dozen new major players, this 157-minute outing looks to bring one of the most unique stories ever told in franchise history.
On the more positive side of this new release, Marvel is set to add dynamics never seen before in previous movies, like multiple levels of representation and a story with a different vision than anything seen in the MCU's past. However, this hasn't led to the rounds of success the MCU has grown so accustomed to, especially according to critics over the past couple of weeks.
After nearly 250 official reviews online, Eternals currently ranks as the lowest-rated Marvel Studios movie on Rotten Tomatoes, currently sitting at 50%. This is in stark contrast to fan reactions to the film though, as the site's audience score came in nearly 40% higher upon the movie's theatrical debut.
Now, a new rating for the movie has been revealed - one that ranks toward the lower end of the spectrum, at that.
Eternals Sets an Unfortunate Cinemacore Record
CinemaScore revealed its official rating for Marvel Studios' Eternals, with audiences giving the new MCU film a B rating.
To calculate this score, the company polls viewers for their thoughts on the movie in question before the audience members fill out ballot cards to grade the film. This method results in the film's official "CinemaScore."
The B rating comes in as the lowest of all 26 MCU movies since 2008 and only the second to receive one lower than an A- after Thor's B+ in 2011. The first two releases for the MCU in 2021 both came in higher with Black Widow at an A- and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at an A.
The rankings for all 26 Marvel Studios films can be seen below:
- Iron Man : A
- The Incredible Hulk: A-
- Iron Man 2: A
- Thor: B+
- Captain America: The First Avenger: A-
- The Avengers: A+
- Iron Man 3: A
- Thor: The Dark World: A-
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier: A
- Guardians of the Galaxy: A
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: A
- Ant-Man: A
- Captain America: Civil War: A
- Doctor Strange : A
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: A
- Spider-Man: Homecoming: A
- Thor: Ragnarok: A
- Black Panther: A+
- Avengers: Infinity War: A
- Ant-Man and the Wasp : A-
- Captain Marvel: A
- Avengers: Endgame: A+
- Spider-Man: Far From Home: A
- Black Widow: A-
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: A
- Eternals: B
Looking at other Marvel movies from Fox and Sony, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool and its sequel both came in with A ratings while each of Tom Hardy's Venom films( 2018's Venom and 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage) scored a B+. In the X-Men universe, 2016's X-Men: Apocalype came in with an A- rating while 2019's Dark Phoenix finished as the lowest-rated of the bunch at a B-.
Eternals Struggling with Critics and Some Fans
It's become shockingly evident that Eternals is having a rough start thanks to some reviews from critics and even in the eyes of some fans as well. With the widest gap between fan reviews and critic ratings, it seems to track at this point that the movie's CinemaScore makes headlines of its own.
With 24 of the MCU's 26 movies having received at least an A- upon their debuts, the B grade certainly comes as a stunner to fans and studio employees who were hoping for more, especially with dreams of delivering an Oscar contender. With the early reviews in mind, more fans will see the movie in the coming weeks, and all eyes will be on social media and review websites for more opinions on Eternals' successes and failures.
No matter what happens, Eternals is making one of the most unexpectedly controversial debuts in MCU history with ratings like this.
Eternals is now playing exclusively in theaters.
