Marvel Studios may be approaching a month-long hiatus over the coming days, but that doesn't mean the team behind the MCU is taking a break thanks to three more 2021 releases. The next one on the docket is November's theatrical debut for Eternals, which is already gaining momentum as potentially one of the best MCU films ever made.
The movie's team is currently ramping up the promotional tour with just about a month until its arrival, particularly with new TV spots teasing snippets of action that fans will see from this new solo adventure. Reports have also confirmed when in the MCU timeline the plot will take place, while Eternals-inspired merchandise gave more details on some of the movie's specific key moments.
Often included in Marvel Studios promotional tours are advertisements for big-name companies that tie into previews for MCU projects as well.
Most recently, fans got a strange commercial from Hyundai with characters from What If...? that saw Party Thor, T'Challa's Star-Lord, the Watcher, and more fighting off Ultron robots while driving a Tuscon. Now, another similar ad has found its way onto the Internet focusing on the MCU's next big-screen movie.
A Lexus-Marvel Team Effort For Eternals
Lexus released a two-and-a-half minute commercial for the new IS 500 sedan that featured a promotional tie-in to Marvel Studios' Eternals.
The ad stars Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo, who is driving through the streets of Los Angeles as a huge battle rages nearby, and he's having trouble finding a place to park.
Dealing with potential bird droppings and the terrors of parking garages, he's in communication via text with Gemma Chan's Sersi and via voice call with Lia McHugh's Sprite as he tries to find his way to the fight.
In the parking garage, Sprite even threatens to tell Richard Madden's Ikaris about Kingo's issues, which leads to a hilarious interaction between the two immortal beings:
Sprite: "I’m telling Ikaris."
Kingo: "Tell him!….What are you gonna tell him?"
Sprite: "Seriously?"
In the end, Kingo finds a parking structure with a wide open roof, where he parks his car before using his superpowers to blast a shopping cart away that's rolling towards the vehicle. The all-star comedian gets in contact with his team and gives them the update that he has a seven-minute walk to take to get to the battle.
The ad also features numerous cameos from other Marvel heroes, including a quick glimpse at Lauren Ridloff's Makkari as she speeds through the action. All that can be seen of this is a red blur.
Ikaris makes a quick cameo as well, flying directly behind Makkari and shooting his eye beams in front of him as Kingo follows his two colleagues in the Lexus.
Marvel even included a hilarious nod to the Ant-Man movies by including a vehicle that strongly resembles Luis' van. Kingo simply looks at the wreckage for a moment before telling himself "I'll keep looking" and driving away:
The full advertisement can be seen below:
Riding in Style With the Eternals
Marvel has been at the top of the game all year, not only with trailers and promos for its own projects, but in their work with advertisements like this as well. Already having started fun discussions with the Hyundai What If...? commercial and further work with the MCU's first three Disney+ shows of the year as well, this new one takes the comedy factor to a whole new level.
While the Lexus ad doesn't reveal any new footage from Eternals, only really showing the full team-up shot that closed out the first full trailer, Kumail Nanjiani gets to tease his comedic prowess as he takes on his first MCU outing.
Finding a way to include multiple characters from the movie being promoted and even throwing an Ant-Man Easter egg in as well, this ad perfectly utilized Marvel's iconic brand of comedy while pushing the Eternals hype train further forward. If this footage is any indication, it's clear that Eternals will also include its fair share of laughs, many of them likely coming from Nanjiani himself.
Eternals will release in theaters on November 5, 2021.
