The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in an interesting place right now. We're currently in the interim period between phases, with months passing between Spider-Man: Far From Home and the release of Black Widow. Phase Four has a ton of very intriguing projects, which should expand the shared universe in new and exciting ways. Chief among them is Chloé Zhao's The Eternals, which seems to be an especially ambitious project, featuring an all-star cast. Kumail Nanjiani is playing the role of Kingo, and he recently teased what The Eternals brings to the table that other Marvel movies may not.
Hype for The Eternals has been steadily building, partly because of its all-star and groundbreaking diverse case. Chief among them is Kumail Nanjiani, who got super ripped in order to transform into a Marvel hero. He recently teased the massive scope of the upcoming blockbuster, saying:
It’s really, really an epic. And it’s really such a science-fiction story. It’s a superhero story, but in some ways, it’s the most sci-fi of all the Marvel movies and it’s the most epic of all the Marvel movies. And the story spans thousands of years. So it’s really not like any of the other Marvel movies.
Well, this is exciting. Because while the Marvel Cinematic Universe has certainly used elements of science fiction during the last decade of filmmaking, it looks like The Eternals will really go full tilt with genre work. What's more, the story spans a far longer period of time than any other Marvel movie.
Kumail Nanjiani's comments to EW are definitely intriguing, and will make the wait for The Eternals all the more painful. Nanjiani has been one of the film's most vocal cheerleaders, constantly teasing just how powerful the titular team of heroes truly are. His excitement hasn't been stifled as principal photography for the upcoming blockbuster continues on. And he's confident enough to say The Eternals is totally unique to the MCU.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become super dense over the years, with plenty of franchises occupying the shared universe. But the properties that most resonate with audiences have a specific point of view, like Black Panther or Guardians of the Galaxy. Hopefully The Eternals follows suit, as the movie with the most sci-fi influence and largest scale.
Despite that massive scale, The Eternals also feels like an independent movie at times-- according to Kumail Nanjiani. In his same interview, he went on to talk about the grounded nature of individual scenes, saying:
But the other thing is, making this massive movie in many important ways still feels like you’re making an independent movie, in the sense that it really feels like a family and it feels like it’s really about characters and relationships and very small moments. So while you have certain scenes where you’re hanging up on a wire fighting bad guys and you have all these superpowers, the rest of it does feel like you’re making something really small.
It definitely sounds like The Eternals has a lot to offer audiences when it finally hits theaters. And given the cosmic nature of its heroes, Chloé Zhao's upcoming blockbuster has the potential to greatly expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
The Eternals will arrive in theaters on November 6th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
