A big question that popped into everyone's mind after the Eternals teaser was: where in the universe were the Eternals during the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame? With how powerful and all-knowing the Eternals seem to be, they did a great job preventing Thanos from wiping off half the universe. Fortunately, we will be getting that answer in Eternals, when it comes out on November 5th.
Eternals is about an immortal alien race who emerge from hiding after thousands of years, to help protect Earth from an evil force, despite, you know, leaving Earth to deal with that whole Thanos situation on our own. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Gil Birmingham, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie. The film is written and directed by Chloé Zhao, who won Best Director and Best Picture at the 2021 Oscars for Nomadland, making her the first woman of color to do so.
So, why were the Eternals absent during some pretty crucial events? According to EW, The Eternals' "mission is to focus on the Deviants and never interfere with human affairs." The Eternals' ultimate goal is to protect Earth from the monstrous Deviants, but still, a little help would've been nice.
It's also noted that Eternals is primarily a standalone movie, just like the first Guardians of the Galaxy. So, it's possible that Zhao wants to keep the film self-contained and not have many connections as other Marvel films do. Though it won't be surprising if the events of Eternals affect upcoming movies, after all, producer Nate Moore stated that the film is "part of the fabric of the MCU."
Eternals will be released on November 5.