Drop the A, Just Thena: Gods, Agency, and Responsibility in the Ever-Expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe

In a universe of superheroes, what does it mean to be a god? The MCU is full of supercharged, powerful beings–are gods all that different? The MCU’s Phase 4 expands the universe with the Eternals. These expansions and additions will impact the shape of the universe going forward, but Chloe Zhao’s Eternals introduces a twist: the Eternals have been on Earth since 5000 BCE and have influenced the very development of human civilization. Their presence will not only affect the future of the MCU; it has already subtly shaped the known world. This raises a new decidedly political question: if everything in history is subtly influenced by the Eternals, do concepts that have been central to the MCU, like agency and responsibility, actually mean anything? How does the existence of these powerful godlike beings in the shadows impact what we thought we knew about the MCU? This paper argues that by centering the Eternals, a new set of previously unknown, superpowered, godlike figures, this film disrupts existing narratives about the key events in the MCU – like Thanos’ Snap –while reshuffling the playing field of powerful beings in meaningful ways. Eternals asks us to recalibrate what we know about the world in light of the newfound knowledge of the Eternals and Celestials. The existence of the Eternals also invites us to think critically about the meaning of agency and responsibility in a universe where new types of powerful beings enter the story on a regular basis. This essay turns to recent scholarship in political theory to offer a more robust definition of agency – one that includes not only agency-as-control (corresponding to oversight) but also agency-as-involvement to account for the Eternals’ presence and influence over the course of millennia. This helps theorize the meaning of actions in light of the revelation that the Eternals have been influencing the shape of the world for much longer than humans have been aware. This turn to political theory, by expanding the vocabulary around agency, also sheds light on how we might account for power and responsibility in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe.