It has been a minute since Marvel made a movie that just wasn’t very good. Thor: The Dark World probably was the last, but Marvel as a whole has taken movie entertainment to a whole new level since that dumpster fire. However, Eternals, the newest movie from Marvel, is a testament to the bar the company has set for itself and this film falls way short of that bar.

Overall Eternals isn’t a bad movie, but it’s just average. It has good special effects and its use of color makes this movie very pleasing to the eye. However, the brilliant yellow and red tree in my neighborhood is also pleasing to the eye; that doesn’t mean I want to pay $12 to see it. The bad so much outweighs the good in this film that it just isn’t worth it.

When it was announced, I had high hopes. Kit Harrington was part of the cast, and who doesn’t love him as an actor? However, Marvel could have removed him from the film, and it would have made no difference. There was really no purpose for him except for an end credit scene that I will leave unannounced.

In addition to his lack of character within the film, there was also a horrible lack of character development in general. Nobody cares about these Eternals that haven’t suffered a day in their lives to obtain, learn and deal with their superpowers. They were just granted them. Think of the great Marvel heroes and how they have gone through trials and tribulations. Cap, Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor…all of them went through drastic levels of complication to build their characters.

In Infinity War, when Spidey says to Iron Man, “I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark,” the audience cares about Spiderman. This scene pulls at their heartstrings and tear ducts because his character matters as it has been developed. When Eternals die there is no heartstring tugging. The poor character development causes a lack of being vested in the character and therefore a lack of caring.

The last thing that stands out in the movie is Kevin Feige’s political agenda when making the movie. Feige is the president of Marvel Studios and he has very vocal political views, which he has every right to. People should be entitled to their own views; it is what makes this country great. However, forcing them into a Marvel movie just because you can is like me forcing my political views on my students just because they’re in front of me. I wouldn’t do that and Feige shouldn’t either. Just make the movies for the love of the comics so that Marvel fans across the world can enjoy the same outstanding content that they’ve come to expect through the first three phases.

This movie isn’t a blockbuster juggernaut like so many Marvel movies have been. Hopefully the studio is learning their lesson because Phase Three went out with a BANG but the Phase Four fuse is just fizzling.