The first trailer for Marvel’s Eternals movie came out this week and it was neat! Like all Marvel movies, I’m excited for Eternals coming out in November. But unlike all other Marvel movies, I have no idea what to expect. I’m a lifelong comic book fan, but even I don’t know all that much about the Eternals. I don’t know if I’ve ever even read an Eternals comic.

Still, I have full faith in Marvel Studios and director Chloe Zhao to pull this off. Marvel knows how to make a great movie, and I’m confident they can make one out of Eternals. And if they haven’t finished already, I have my usual list of things I’d like to see in the movie. Though I’ll admit this list is probably a little sparse. I have no idea what to want or expect from an Eternals movie.

But let’s give it a shot anyway! Join me after the jump!

6. Fully costumed Black Knight

Kit Harrington is going to play Dane Whitman in Eternals, otherwise known from comics as the Black Knight. This is a character I do know, sort of. I’m no Black Knight expert, but I’ve seen him around and I understand his whole deal. So since he’s the one character I understand, I’d like to see him fully kitted out (pun intended). Give him the Ebony Blade. Give him his black armor. I don’t know what role he’s going to have in the movie, but seeing the actual Black Knight should be fun. And then he’ll be available for future movies or TV shows maybe!

5. No opening text

I hate opening text in a movie. It’s a surefire sign that your movie is going to suck. If your backstory/mythology/characters/story are too complicated to explain within the movie itself, you’re doing a bad job. Have any Marvel movies had opening text so far? I don’t think so. And let that be a lesson to Eternals. Don’t tell us about the history of the Eternals in opening text. Do exactly what your trailer did and show us.

4. As much Kumail Nanjiani as possible

I love Kumail Nanjiani! He’s great! And he’s apparently playing an Eternal who is posing as a Bollywood star, with what appears to be a full Bollywood song and dance sequence somewhere in this film. That sounds great! I absolutely want to see that! But beyond that dance number, I hope Kumail is a leading character. I would be more than happy with Kumail becoming a leader in the MCU going forward.

3. Don’t make Thanos an Eternal

In all of the comments and message board chatter I read after the Eternals trailer dropped, everybody and their brother kept harping on the point that Thanos is an Eternal in the comics. He’s one of the Deviants, their sword enemies. Thanos would then, obviously, go on to have a far richer comic book career than any of the other Eternals. But here’s the thing…I don’t want MCU Thanos to be an Eternal.

We got Thanos’ origin story in Avengers: Infinity War and it’s a solid origin story for this character. He was just another member of the Titan race who had wild, genocidal ideas. MCU Thanos does not need to be anything more than that. The movies do not need to bog him down in some vague connection to the Eternals. And they don’t need to bog the Eternals down by making them answer for Thanos.

Also, while we’re on the topic, I don’t need the Eternals to answer why they didn’t participate in Infinity War/Endgame either. I hate this question. I hate when people ask why the other Avengers didn’t show up in the solo movies. If this sort of thing bugs you then lighten the hell up.

2. Keep It Simple, Stupid

Speaking of not bogging anyone or anything down…keep the movie simple, please. A bunch of comic websites have written full length explanations for who the Eternals are and what their whole deal is, and these articles are exhausting to read. Every character has some weird name and some similar powers. There are all sorts of weird shenanigans from over the eons that happened. Sometimes they lost their memories. Sometimes they were Avengers. It’s a whole thing. But complicated mythologies and hard-to-distinguish characters are a surefire way to make a flop of a movie. Ain’t nobody got time for all this complexity. And I really hope this movie isn’t just going to be one info-dump after another. Find ways to keep the characters simple and fun. Don’t bog down the movie with all of them all the time. Find some core themes and stick to them. Keep it simple!

1. I don’t even know how to cross them over with other characters

How do you include the Eternals into future Marvel movies? Do they need to show up as a group? Does Ant-Man have to learn their names and differences like the rest of us? Is Marvel going to insist that all of the Eternals are worthy of being major characters going forward? Heck, if they’re great, perhaps they’re worth it. But does the revived Avengers team feature all or even half of the Eternals? Or maybe they’ll follow the comics and only Sersi will join the Avengers. I could get behind that.

I just don’t know what’s going to happen with the future of Eternals. Here’s hoping the movie is really great and we all want the Eternals to show back up!

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