Zhao revels in the script’s globe-trotting nature, which takes the team from South Dakota to Iraq and the Amazon, where they find Barry Keoghan’s Druig living as a godlike figure in the jungles.

The most amusing dynamic involves Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo. Now a preening Bollywood star, his relationship with his fawning valet (Harish Patel) brings some much needed light relief to an overly earnest storyline that sees the Eternals question their very reason for being protectors against the Deviants.

Much of the film’s plot points circle around Ajak (Salma Hayek), their appointed leader who communes with Arishem, an all-powerful celestial entity who oversees the Eternals’ adventures. But the less said about that, the better.

There’s plenty of back-and-forth to earlier time periods, including a striking shot of 1945 Hiroshima after the atomic bomb had been dropped. But at over two-and-a-half hours, the film struggles to find its rhythm, weighed down by the onus of carrying so many central characters.

Some are marginalised. Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari, the first deaf MCU character, gets short shrift, as does Brian Tyree Henry’s gay hero Phastos, while Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman barely registers.

The fight-driven action is fun – Jolie really has a ball – but it all feels geared towards setting up further adventures, especially the tantalising post-credits sequence. As a stand-alone, Eternals is a middling Marvel movie.