Disney has an uphill battle on it’s hands with the upcoming MCU films. They wrapped up the 10 Years of Avengers with Avengers: End Game and now they are trying to build up demand for new characters moving forward. Black Widow was basically the last film in the decade-long saga Marvel laid out and even then it just did “OK”.
Now Disney and Marvel are moving forward on new characters and they aren’t exactly ones that have been incredibly popular. These aren’t the Fantastic Four or the X-Men. They aren’t the Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Iron Man characters that most people were familiar with. Instead they are taking relatively unknown characters like Shang-Chi and The Eternals and are trying to hit big box office numbers. Frankly, neither one would likely see huge numbers, even in times where a lot of theaters around the globe weren’t closed or had limited capacity.
The problem isn’t just the pandemic, it’s also the lack of awareness by general movie goers and MCU fans.
Where Shang-Chi may still have a chance, most people aren’t clamoring for The Eternals. Disney needs to find a way to bring demand or at least recognition to their possible customer base.
Here comes the Public Relations machine
Today Entertainment Weekly posted images and write-ups for each of The Eternals characters to try and promote ahead of the November release.
Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, and more break down their immortal characters. https://t.co/B0UtKTlfXr
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 18, 2021
Check out the new @EW exclusive covers featuring Marvel Studios’ #Eternals. Experience it in theaters November 5. Read the full story here: https://t.co/tHyGgbdcqy pic.twitter.com/GxLDGdEeQO
— Eternals (@TheEternals) August 18, 2021
Meet the cosmic-powered Kingo. @kumailn and @TheEternals cast assemble, introducing a new, unconventional Marvel Studios super team. https://t.co/2FEew28l1D Story by @devancoggan pic.twitter.com/ES5UaZtpnV
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 18, 2021
Meet spiritual leader Ajak. @salmahayek and @TheEternals cast assemble to introduce an ageless, unconventional band of heroes determined to save Earth. https://t.co/2FEew28l1D pic.twitter.com/0Fpin9WESt
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 18, 2021
Meet the speedster Makkari. @LaurenRidloff, the MCU’s first deaf hero, and her #Eternals costars introduce a powerful family of immortals in Marvel’s next big adventure. https://t.co/2FEew28l1D pic.twitter.com/3iVR3GPPiv
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 18, 2021
Meet the inventor Phastos. Brian Tyree Henry and @TheEternals cast assemble, introducing Marvel’s family of immortals who feel simultaneously like an ancient power and completely new. https://t.co/2FEew28l1D pic.twitter.com/PD7QUiyWWP
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 18, 2021
Meet the warrior Thena. Angelina Jolie and her #Eternals costars introduce a new Marvel super team in a sprawling saga about immortals keeping watch over humanity. https://t.co/2FEew28l1D pic.twitter.com/yc51kwiXWn
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 18, 2021
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hasn’t even officially released yet and Disney is already trying to get interest going for The Eternals. Frankly, they are right to do so. They need all the interest they can get.
The responses to the images also showcase the issue Marvel and Disney are facing:
jesus christ shang chi literally dropped like a day ago give consumers a chance to breathe
— Connor Joe (@oleboyconnor) August 18, 2021
99% of people coming to see this can’t name a single member of the Eternals. Even average Comic book readers can’t.
Same was said of The Guardians of the Galaxy. Don’t oversell it. It’s new for lots of people, say that.
— 𝐀 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 & Justice🇺🇸 (@TruthSalvo) August 18, 2021
This will somehow make less than Black Widow. Nobody really cares at this point. I could be wrong, but my being right-streak is at an all time high.
— PistoleGigantico (@Stoph316) August 18, 2021
I don’t think literally anybody has been waiting for this movie. Nobody knows what it is, and nobody cares.
— Explosion Mage (@explosion_mage) August 18, 2021
EW must’ve gotten it’s paycheck from Disney 😂 “Crank up the hype machine boys, we have a job to do!”
— Dave (@dbond123) August 18, 2021
Box office bomb incoming. Try making visually attractive movies about characters people care about
— Witchking 666 (@666Witchking) August 18, 2021
There’s also a rumor that a new trailer could drop tomorrow.
Promotional pieces like these are going to be necessary but they aren’t enough. Disney needs to get people to care about this film or they are going to have issues heading into Phase 4.
There are now rumors that The Eternals could go directly to streaming or Premier Access on Disney+ foregoing a theatrical release. But as of now those are just rumors.
Expect the hype train to start running and running hard. They need to do this if they have even a chance of a larger box office.
The Eternals is currently scheduled for theatrical release on November 5, 2021.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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