If you’re still not ready to return to the movie theaters (or don’t want to pay for an overpriced ticket), you may be wondering: When is Eternals free on Disney Plus?

Like Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Widow, Jungle Cruise and other Disney blockbusters, Eternals will be available to stream for free for Disney Plus subscribers soon after its theatrical release, and we have the predicted date of when that will be. Eternals is the 26th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and follows the Eternals, an immortal alien race, who emerge after 7,000 years of life in secret to protect the Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. The movie is the third movie in Phase Four of the MCU, most of which follow what happened after the events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The first was Black Widow and the second was Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. 

Eternals is the 26th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and follows the Eternals, an immortal alien race, who emerge after 7,000 years of life in secret to protect the Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. In an interview with Geek Culture, Chloe Zhao, the director of Eternals, explained that the movie is an exploration of humanity. “I wanted this so badly,” Zhao said of directing Eternals. “I wanted to work with the team at Marvel because I love the movies. With this particular story, I felt like I had something to offer, and it’s a story that addresses questions that I have for myself as a human being, and so I knew the making of that will allow me to grow.”

She added, “I’ve been thinking about us as a species. We are literally thinking about leaving this planet to go somewhere else. As a species, we’re always trying to leave home and search for something else – meaning, land, gold, opportunity – whatever it is and then in the end when we get older we always end up wanting to go home. I think that’s such a trend, and as I am getting older I think about these themes quite a lot—belonging and home.

So when is Eternals free on Disney Plus? Read on for when Eternals will be free for Disney Plus and how Marvel fans can still watch the movie at no cost, even if they don’t have a subscription yet.

When is Eternals free on Disney Plus?

Eternals will be free on Disney Plus in 2022. Disney announced in September 2021 that Eternals—like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings—will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window before it’s available to stream on Disney Plus. So when is Eternals free on Disney Plus, exactly? While Disney hasn’t announced an official release date, Streaming Guider reports that Eternals will premiere on Disney+ on January 12, 2022, which is the same time frame that recent blockbusters like Shang Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, Black Widow and Jungle Cruise took to land on Disney Plus after their theatrical release.

“Following the tremendous box office success of our summer films which included five of the top eight domestic releases of the year, we are excited to update our theatrical plans for the remainder of 2021,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement in September 2021. “As confidence in moviegoing continues to improve, we look forward to entertaining audiences in theaters.”

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was the first Disney movie since the current health crisis to premiere exclusively in theaters and stream on Disney Plus two months after its release. The delayed streaming wa different from how Marvel and Disney movies like The Jungle Cruise, Mulan, Black Widow, Raya and the Last Dragon and Cruella were released. Instead of streaming on Disney Plus two months after their release, these movies premiered on the same day in theaters and on Disney Plus With Premiere Access, which costs $29.99 in addition to Disney Plus’ monthly $7.99 price. Most of these movies weren’t available to stream for free on Disney Plus without Premiere Access until at least three months after their release.

During an earnings call in August 2021, Disney CEO Bob Chapek explained decision to stream Shang-Chi on Disney Plus two months after its theatrical release. “We value flexibility in being able to make last-minute calls,” he said, according to Deadline. “Certainly when we planned we didn’t anticipate the resurgence of Covid.” Chapek also noted that there’s “nothing in stone” for future Disney releases and called Shang-Chi‘s 45-day frame “an interesting experiment” and “another data point.”

Disney’s decision to stream Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Disney Plus two months after its release also came after Scarlett Johansson, who plays Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow in May 2021’s Black Widow, sued Disney, which owns Marvel, for breaching their contract by streaming Black Widow on Disney Plus With Premiere Access and not debuting it exclusively in theaters. According to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in July 2021, Johansson’s attorneys claimed that Disney breached their contract with her when they decided to stream Black Widow on Disney Plus Premier Access for $29.99, which suppressed movie theatre ticket sales for the film.

The suit claims that Johansson’s pay for Black Widow was tied to the movie’s box office performance, and she would receive bonuses if certain benchmarks were reached. “Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel,” the suit reads.

According to sources for The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news of Johansson’s suit, the actress lost around $50 million bonuses from Disney’s decision to stream the film on Disney Plus and not release it only in theaters. According to Variety, Black Widow earned $80 million in North America and $78 million overseas, as well a $60 million from Disney Plus, after its release on July 9, 2021. At the time of ScarJo’s lawsuit, Black Widow earned $319 million globally, which makes it one of Marvel’s lowest-grossing films of all time. Disney, for its part, responded to Johansson’s lawsuit in a statement at the time. “There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” the statement read. “The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

How to watch Eternals online free

So how can one watch Eternals online for free? Well, Eternals won’t be available to stream on Disney Plus until 2022. The service costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year (which saves subscribers $15.98 from the monthly price.) Still, there are ways to subscribe to Disney+ at no cost and watch Eternals online for free when it’s available to stream. Read on for how to stream Eternals at no cost.

Verizon Unlimited Free Subscription

If you’re a Verizon customer (or know someone who is), Verizon offers free Disney Plus subscription with its Unlimited plans (a.k.a. Get More Unlimited, Play More Unlimited, Verizon Plan Unlimited, Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited.) If you have one of these plans, you can sign-up for a free six-month Disney+ subscription (which saves you about $42.) Click here for Verizon’s FAQ on how to sign up for its free Disney+ subscription.

Verizon customers with Get More Unlimited and Play More Unlimited plans are also eligible for their Disney Bundle, which offers not only a free Disney Plus subscription for as long as you have your Verizon plan, but also free Hulu and ESPN+ subscriptions too, which saves viewers about $12.99 per month. Click here for Verizon’s FAQ on how to sign up for its Disney Bundle. So there you have it—a way to watch Disney Plus for free.

Amazon Music Unlimited Free Subscription

New Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can receive a free six-month subscription to Disney Plus. Current Amazon Music Unlimited Subscribers are also eligible for a free three-month subscription to Disney Plus. Amazon Music Unlimited offers a 30-day free trial and costs $7.99 per month for Amazon Prime Members—which is the same monthly rate as Disney Plus. This means that customers can receive both an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription and a Disney Plus subscription for less than $4 each.

Not an Amazon Prime Member? Amazon Prime also offers a 30-day free trial, so customers can sign up for the free trial and subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for the cheaper price. If you’re a student, you can also receive a free six-month trial of Amazon Prime, as well as an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription for just 99 cents per month.

What is Eternals about?

Eternals is based on Marvel Comics’ Eternals, an immortal alien race that first appeared in their own comic book series in 1976. The movie is set after the return of half of the world’s population in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The snap led to the return of the Eternals, who have lived in secret for more than 7,000 years and reunite to protect the Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.

Who is in the Eternals cast?

The Eternals cast includes Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris and Angelina Jolie as Thena. See below for the full Eternals cast.

• Gemma Chan as Sersi
  
• Richard Madden as Ikaris
• Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo
• Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos
• Lauren Ridloff as Makkari
• Barry Keoghan as Druig
• Don Lee as Gilgamesh
• Harish Patel as Karun
• Kit Harington as Dane Whitman
• Salma Hayek as Ajak
  
• Angelina Jolie as Thena

Eternals will be available to stream on Disney Plus in 2022.

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