LEGO Marvel Eternals 76145, 76154, 76155, and 76156 - All the Eternals movie sets in one big lump, just how you like 'em. [Review] - The Brothers Brick

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been pretty tightly organized, but the past couple of years have seen a lot of shuffling when it comes to movie release schedules. Case in point: the Eternals. Originally slated for a November 2020 release, it was pushed back all the way to November of this year. That bump had an interesting effect on the film’s tie-in merchandise – LEGO was ready to release four sets, and already had them listed in their December 2020 catalog. Ultimately, those sets were never made available for sale, just sitting there as one of the bigger pre-release spoilers. That is, until now. Starting October 1st, we’ll be able to add the following to our shopping carts:

76156: Rise of the Domo – US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £89.99
76155: In Arishem’s Shadow – US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £59.99
76145: Eternals’ Aerial Assault – US $9.99 | CAN $13.99 | UK £8.99
76154: Deviant Ambush! – US $24.99 | CAN $29.99 | UK £17.99

We’ve already taken a deep dive into the Rise of the Domo and In Arishem’s Shadow sets, but there’s still more to cover. Come along as we take a look at all of the Eternals movie sets. Do they combine to make something greater than their (LEGO) parts?

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of these sets for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

A Quick Eternals Overview

So, just who are the Eternals? Well, in the comics, they’re creations of the great Jack Kirby. There’s some interesting history behind that creation, including the reasons that they share a lot of thematic similarities to the New Gods over on the DC side of the fence. In the MCU? Well, let’s just say there’s a lot yet to be fully revealed. We have seen a few movie trailers, though. So these reviews have necessarily been filled with a fair amount of speculation and guesswork. But beware of possible spoilers if we happen to have guessed right about anything important.

What you mainly need to know to understand the context of these sets:

The Eternals are powerful superheroes who have been around for a long, long time. They will likely be the good guys in this film.
They are related, somehow, to the giant cosmic beings called Celestials. We’ve seen those teased in some other MCU films already. One was seen using the power stone in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, for example.
The Deviants will likely be the bad guys.
The Eternals have a giant triangular spaceship.

The other thing to know is that LEGO spread the ten Eternals characters across all four sets. Each set has at least one exclusive character, with some of the higher-profile cast members showing up multiple times. The giant spaceship, the giant space god…they’re all secondary to the minifigures in LEGO’s eyes. (In fact, Arishem was described with “this set also includes…” language.)

LEGO Eternals 76155: In Arishem’s Shadow
US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £59.99

Be sure to check out our full in-depth review!

This set’s main draw is the Celestial leader, Arishem, a 30cm/11″ tall buildable figure. There are two exclusive Eternals in this set: Ajax and Kingo. You also get a “Deviant Bat” to round out the cast.

While the Arishem figure has some good points, I felt that it doesn’t hold up well to close scrutiny. Likewise, the “Deviant Bat” foe is kind of interesting but overall seems like a table-scrap build rather than a truly fearsome foe. This is also an expensive set from a price-per-piece perspective, making it one of the weakest entries in the collection. But I suspect it’ll still sell okay, if just from the “giant space robot thing” appeal.

The Eternals, by comparison, all look pretty great. From left to right are Ikaris, Kingo, Ajax, and Sersi.

LEGO Eternals 76156 – Rise of the Domo
US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £89.99

Be sure to check out the full in-depth review!

The largest (and therefore most expensive) set of the four, the Rise of the Domo is probably the best of the wave. The triangular spaceship folds out into an intricate playset, you get two interesting Deviant foes, and a full 60% of the Eternals characters, two of which are exclusive to this set.

The “stale pizza” external look of the Domo is certainly a downside, but if you can get past that you’re in for a good time. There are a lot of great details, a fun build, and a good mix of characters.

The Eternals in this set, from left to right, are Phastos, Makkari, Thena, Sersi, Ikaris, and Druig. (Phastos and Druig are the exclusives for this set.)

LEGO Eternals 76145: Eternals’ Aerial Assault
US $9.99 | CAN $13.99 | UK £8.99

The smallest of the sets, the Eternals’ Aerial Assault comes with a winged Deviant, Ikaris, and the exclusive Sprite minifigure. At $10 US for 133 pieces, it’s a very reasonably priced way to dip your toe in Eternals waters.

Here’s the set description from LEGO.com:

When an enormous winged Deviant launches an attack on 2 popular Eternals – Ikaris and Sprite – kids must come to their aid with all their superhero skills. This cool LEGO building toy lets fans recreate memorable scenes from Marvel Studios’ The Eternals movie and dream up imaginative stories of their own. There’s endless enjoyment to have deploying cool superpowers: Sprite’s lifelike illusions and Ikaris’s ability to fly. And, if you’re buying for a minifigure fan, this awesome LEGO playset is the only one to feature the Sprite minifigure!

The deviant build is fairly decent, with a good amount of articulation and interesting parts. It’s a little silly looking in person, but a fair example of a build you’d expect in a $10 set.

The details here are mostly sticker-based, with a single printed curved-slope element for the eyes. It’ll be interesting to see how the character design holds up against the finished CGI of the movie.

For $10 US, getting two Eternals minifigures seems like a decent deal, particularly when you balance that against the $5 being asked for a single MCU Collectible Minifigure.

The exclusive Sprite minifigure has a dual-sided torso and head print, and short teal legs. I think it’s interesting that they went with Sprite as an “easy to get” character over putting someone (presumably) more action-oriented into the entry-level set. Maybe the character’s apparent youth had something to do with the marketing choice – are they banking that kids will identify with Sprite? She does use the same face as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter line…

LEGO Eternals 76154: Deviant Ambush!
US $24.99 | CAN $29.99 | UK £17.99

The final set in the wave, Deviant Ambush!, is a basic battle pack. It has an exclusive Gilgamesh figure, a beefy Deviant beast, as well as Thena and Makkari minis. The set contains only 197 pieces, though, making it a costly 12.6 cents per part for the $25 US price point. It’s not a bad set, but it’s not great, either.

Here’s the set description from LEGO.com:

When a 6-legged Deviant with a biting mouth launches an attack on 3 of The Eternals – Thena, Gilgamesh, and Makkari – kids must come to their aid with all their superhero skills. With 3 superhero minifigures, youngsters can imagine deploying their superpowers: Thena’s ability to summon hand-to-hand weapons, Gilgamesh’s super-strength, and Makkari’s phenomenal speed. And, if you’re buying for a minifigure fan, this awesome LEGO playset is the only one to feature the Gilgamesh minifigure!

This Deviant is probably my favorite out of the sets. It feels big and beefy, has plenty of interesting parts, and the articulation points don’t feel as obviously exposed as they do in the other Deviants.

The six-legged design certainly makes this feel like an alien beast, as do the great color choices. The majority of the details are sticker-based, with two printed sloped tiles used for the eyes.

Gilgamesh, Makkari, and Thena are all great-looking figures. I particularly like Gilgamesh’s flaming fist accessories.

Gilgamesh is the exclusive Eternal for this set. His face also appears to be a new part, at least in this color.

Interesting Pieces

Each of these sets has some new or rare parts in them. There are several pieces in satin transparent black, a really cool-looking color. There are three unique Deviant prints for the heads, the smaller slopes appearing in two sets each. Arishem has hose nozzles in coral, and the Domo gets some exclusive printed 8×8 round plates.

The Deviants

The full lineup of Deviants shows the range of quality to expect from this collection. The figures here range from the well-built Kro bigfig and six-legged beast to the laughably bad Deviant Bat. I do like the unified color scheme and re-use of interesting pieces like the satin trans-black curved sword blade. Each Deviant also has a printed part or two, although most of the extra detailing comes from liberal use of stickers.

The mix of ground and air forces will at least give folks a good range of play options when staging their own battles.

The Eternals

The full set of ten Eternals minifigures was seen by LEGO as the main draw for this collection, and they are arguably the best reason to consider the sets. Each figure has high-end unique printing on the legs and dual-sided torsos. They do, however, suffer a bit from “identical twin” syndrome, as many of the faces are re-used, some from other Marvel properties. In particular, Ikaris suffers the most, being an exact clone of “Skinny Steve” in the 76201 Captain Carter and the Hydra Stomper “What If…?” set. That said, there’s a great range of diversity here, both in skin tone and gender. That’s a reflection of the choices the MCU made in their casting, but it’s great to see it carried over into the LEGO world.

From the “gotta catch ’em all” perspective, the figures are spread out pretty evenly among the sets. The heaviest repeat is Ikaris who is in three of the four sets, but Thena, Makkari, and Sersi all get two shots in the spotlight as well. Since we still don’t know who the key players will be in the movie, we can only hope LEGO hasn’t hidden one of the high-demand characters behind the paywall of the Domo set.

Conclusion and recommendation

Without having the final movie to compare these sets to, it’s impossible to say if these sets will match up with the cinematic experience. They do a reasonable job of matching what we’ve seen in the trailers, although the Domo is waaaaay too small and deep-dish compared to the ship we’ve seen. The general LEGO build quality, though, is somewhat lacking, and the mid-range sets, in particular, feel overpriced for their contents. Considering the uphill climb Marvel and LEGO will have with the general public knowing (and caring) who these people are, it seems likely that these won’t be the hot sellers they might have been if the film had been released before their appearance…particularly when LEGO has put so much emphasis on “you’ll want all the characters!”

The general sci-fi theme, and the Marvel logo, might be enough for people looking for gifts, though, and these sets are in a prime timeslot for holiday purchases. The bookend sets of the inexpensive 76145: Eternals’ Aerial Assault and high end 76156: Rise of the Domo are the two I’d probably consider picking up for a present.

In summary, although each set some bright points, to me the full collection just wasn’t worth the wait. After completing all four builds, I was left with a sense of “is that it?” and general “meh” reactions. While these sets look good in the adverts, the reality is that the full collection is mediocre at best in person. These will be good sets to look for sale prices on. Or, if you like the theme, maybe splurge on the Domo and pick up the rest of the characters that you care about on the aftermarket. You could also consider these sets as parts packs – there are a lot of interesting pieces to be had. And isn’t that one of the best perks of LEGO, anyway? If you’re not happy with these sets as-is, you can just make something else. So there’s probably something here for everyone, after all.

LEGO Marvel Eternals sets will be available October 1st from the LEGO Shop Online.

They may also available via third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of these sets for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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