While much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Four has been focused on explorations of the multiverse, director Chloé Zhao says that her upcoming Marvel Studios film Eternals, in theaters Nov. 5, will stand on its own, disconnected from the multiverse story arc.

In an interview with Fandango, Zhao was asked whether the highly anticipated blockbuster holds any connection to the multiverse arc that is currently being built up in the Disney+ streaming series WandaVision, Loki and What If...?, and is set to play a major role in the films Spider-Man: No Way Home (in theaters Dec. 17) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (in theaters March 25, 2022). The Oscar-winning filmmaker answered, "The film completely stands alone. If you know half the universe disappeared and it came back [in Avengers: Endgame], that's all you need to know to watch this film. But what happens in this film will have huge implications on the future."

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It's not particularly surprising that Eternals isn't going to involve Variants or Nexus Points, considering it was originally scheduled for release a year ago on Nov. 6, 2020, before even the earliest proposed premiere date for WandaVision. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of Marvel Studios' Phase Four movies experienced delays in release whereas the Disney+ series were able to come out mostly when initially scheduled. Had Eternals not faced such delays and come out last year, no one would even be asking whether it connected to a multiverse plot that hadn't yet begun.

Given the ambition of Eternals' storyline, introducing 10 superheroes with their own complicated mythology involving the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, it's probably for the best that it isn't further complicated by having to address the multiverse on top of all that.

The background of Thanos snapping half of the population out of existence and the Avengers bringing everyone back is all one needs to know in order to follow the story, though the trailers have shown there will be minor comedic references to the heroes of other Marvel films, and cameos are never out of the question in an MCU movie. More than anything else, Eternals' place in the MCU appears to be less about connecting to what's come before or what's happening in parallel in this year's other movies and series, and more about building what stories the franchise can tell in the future.

These future possibilities will be revealed when Eternals premieres in theaters on Nov. 5.

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Source: Fandango