In a surprise turn of events, "Eternals" received the lowest rating in the history of MCU films on the popular review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Its score is lower than "Thor: The Dark World" and "The Incredible Hulk. Will this be Marvel's first true flop?

Currently, "Eternals" has a score of 60% on 126 reviews, the lowest ever for an MCU film. The situation is even harsher when looking at the Top Critics' scores, with only a low 57% from the RT-approved Top Critics. If "Eternals" drops even one more point, it will have the ignominious honor of being the first MCU film to receive a "rotten rating."

Previously, the lowest rated MCU films were "Thor: The Dark World" (66%), "The Incredible Hulk" (67%), and "Iron Man 2" (72%), but "Eternals" will likely take the unwanted crown. This is also the third MCU film to fail to receive a "fresh rating" on review aggregation sites.

The low rating for "The Eternals" is quite a shock: MCU films have received fairly high ratings over the past decade, with even the most generic films in the franchise, such as "Black Widow" (79%), receiving respectable ratings. Eternals was also directed by Chloe Chao, who won an Oscar this year for Best Director for Nomad Land, and was expected to be, if anything, a new benchmark for Marvel films.

Perhaps some of the blame for the film's disappointing critical reception can be attributed to the source material. The Eternals are an extremely niche character in the Marvel canon, having appeared in comics only a few times since their creation by Jack Kirby in the 1970s. He is generally regarded as a lower-level Marvel character.

Review scores for Eternals will continue to be released over the next few days ahead of the film's release on Friday (November 5), but the writing is on the wall for this film: the RT score usually starts high and gradually drops as time goes on. Therefore, it is more likely that "Eternals" will drop further than it will rise above other MCU films.

Whether the film's poor reception will affect its box office performance remains to be seen. While hardcore Marvel fans are unlikely to be disappointed, the (relatively) low RT score may be an indication that "Eternals" will not connect with general audiences like most MCU films.

Thankfully, Marvel Studios does not appear to be ending 2021 on a disappointing note, with Disney Plus' "Hawkeye" series being delivered this month and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" hitting theaters in December. And based on the early buzz surrounding both films, it seems likely that they will be better received than "Eternals."