Marvel Studios’ Eternals is under attack from the Deviants, however from the review bombing act. Eternals is the latest section in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is one of the most expected films for many as it is the primary MCU film with an Academy Award-winning director at the helm and an all-star cast. Up until now, a select gathering has seen the film at debuts, and reviews are currently on the blended to positive side with it now sitting at the lowest appraised MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes, yet a crisp rating.
It seems a subset of people have disagreed with this and carried it upon themselves to review bomb the film. The Direct reports that IMDb’s rating for Eternals was flooded with negative reviews seven days before the film’s theatrical release, with more than 400 1-star reviews. A common point of analysis among those leaving negative reviews is the inclusion of a gay kiss and the film’s LGBTQIA+ representation. IMDb has since eliminated the crowd rating section of Eternals until after the film’s theatrical release when a group of people has actually seen it.
Review bombing, the demonstration of a large gathering of people making a coordinated exertion on review discussions to give antagonistic reviews to an item (often without having seen it) to give the impression of a contrary public perception, is sadly nothing new. Spoiled Tomatoes eliminated their crowd score after a similar coordinated assault occurred on Captain Marvel, Marvel’s first female-led project. Undertakings like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot, and recently, Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation, all got similar review bombing endeavors from a subset of the crowd who took offense with an ever-evolving message in the story.
The musings of those committing the review bombing only make up a small gathering of people that rarely translate to general public talk. In spite of the endeavors to make Captain Marvel look like film crowds despised, it earned $426 million at the homegrown film industry, more than $1 billion worldwide, and turned into the fifth most elevated grossing film of 2019 worldwide. Star Wars: The Last Jedi netted $1.333 billion worldwide and was the most noteworthy grossing film at the 2017 homegrown and worldwide film industry. Marvel Studios doesn’t seem to have been stopped by the reaction to Eternals, particularly from a crowd of people that has not seen it yet, and has indicated this is only the beginning of a more inclusive and global MCU.