Spoilers ahead!

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in the process of beginning a new phase of life. Starting with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, this new wave of superheroes is breathing new life into the franchise.

“Eternals”, the newest Marvel movie, introduces a new cast of characters with their own unique powers as the old Avengers, like Captain America and Iron Man, are retiring and moving away. The flash and mystery of these new heroes is sure to intrigue viewers, and provides a natural entry point into the Marvel universe for those who haven’t seen the preceding 20-plus movies.

The Eternals are descendants of the Celestials, creators of the universe’s stars and galaxies. They arrived at Earth in 5000 B.C.E. to protect humanity from the dangerous Deviants, and finally defeated them around 1500 C.E. Now that their mission is over, they’ve been living disguised, human lives on Earth, waiting for their creator Arishem to call them back to service. Sersi, played by Gemma Chan, is a museum curator living with her (human) boyfriend and another Eternal, Sprite, in London. Out of the blue, a new and improved Deviant attacks the three, and Sersi’s former partner, Ikaris, arrives to fight it off. After barely getting away with their life, Sersi, Sprite and Ikaris begin finding the rest of the Eternals to regroup and find out what’s causing this resurgence of the Deviant threat to humanity.

I came into ‘Eternals’ not knowing much about it, and I was quite happy with the experience. With a large ensemble cast of ten Eternals plus supporting characters, there’s a lot to keep track of, but each character is distinct. All of the Eternals have their own powers and personality, and while they can be a bit flat, I never lost track of who was who. The movie also gives you a ton of exposition and backstory information via flashbacks, so the audience is able to see what the Eternals were like in their heyday, destroying Deviants and helping humanity. The Eternals’ powers and costumes all look sharp on the screen, with clean, swooping golden lines and spirals.

‘Eternals’ is a great entrance point for those new to the Marvel Universe, and doesn’t require any background knowledge. The characters are ones you’ll be rooting for throughout the entire film, and the action keeps things moving quickly. I highly recommend it for any long-time Marvel fans or anyone looking for a good movie to watch with friends and family.