These days, Chloé Zhao’s name is attached to critical acclaim for the book-to-screen adaptation of Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. However, lest we forget about the dark horse Marvel movie she directed, 2021’s Eternals. Despite being given a nearly unlimited budget, Zhao says the film wasn’t a major priority for Marvel, and explains why it got made anyway.
In hindsight, Zhao’s Marvel movie is a standalone film in the MCU, a story that goes deeper into the magic of the cosmos, farther than the Infinity Saga ever did. There was great potential for its characters and storyline, originating from the comics, but Zhao told The Hollywood Reporter why Eternals wasn’t originally a high priority for Marvel Studios:
Eternals was not like high on [Marvel’s] priority list. Because it’s a quite unique IP. It’s on their list of potential — with Marvel, they very much need to find the right filmmaker before they say, ‘That’s the IP we’re going to go for,’ at least at that time.
Essentially, Marvel decided they weren’t going to touch Eternals until they found the right director. That could have been months or years down the road. It’s safe to say that Zhao was the right choice.
At the time, Zhao didn’t yet have the status she does today, as a bad-ass female director, potentially on the precipice of another successful Oscar run. According to the Nomadland filmmaker, something else convinced the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, to put Eternals in her hands:
I remember, at some point, Kevin said to me – it was one of those talks – and he said, ‘You know why I chose you to do Eternals? Because I watched The Rider…’ When he said that to me, I hadn’t even done Nomadland yet. And he said, ‘And I know that no one told you to make that film. Literally, no one in the world was interested in it or told you to do it, but you wanted to do it.’ And I go, ‘OK.’ [It’s like] ‘She has that passion, and that’s how you feel about Eternals, and I’m gonna trust that.’
Zhao says when she was first introduced to the concept for Eternals, she envisioned it like a “Greek play, where gods get to discuss everything about human nature, based on their own relationship,” and she felt “electrified.”
That passion really does reflect in Eternals, and it truly is an incredible film that was unfortunately weakened by its exhaustive runtime spent trying to introduce way too many characters. Runtime aside, the Hamnet director’s signature style really does shine through, making it unlike any other MCU film to date. Its content connects to the MCU, but visually, it was filmed mostly on location with natural lighting, when many Marvel films are shot on a soundstage in front of a green screen.
After the star-studded superhero film, which included Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, and Angelina Jolie, The Rider director took a four-year hiatus. Zhao’s expressive passion for her projects hasn’t dimmed, though, and may very well be the reason that her first project since Eternals, Hamnet, is nominated for eight Academy Awards this year. It is also the only reason Sarah Michelle Gellar signed onto the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival, Zhao’s next directorial endeavor.
It’s still up in the air as to whether or not we will ever see an Eternals sequel. I have a feeling Marvel is torn on whether or not to follow up on Zhao’s Eros cliffhanger, or to let things lie. The MCU moves fast, with most of the upcoming Marvel projects revolving around Avengers: Doomsday. However, I would not be opposed to Feige letting Zhao direct another Marvel film, whether it be an Eternals sequel or something else. Regardless of content, a Chloé Zhao film will always be a priority watch in my book.
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