Chloé Zhao Says ETERNALS Wasn’t a Top Marvel Priority, They Were Just "Potential Players"
When Chloé Zhao stepped into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she wasn’t exactly handed one of the studio’s crown jewels. In a recent interview, the Oscar-winning filmmaker opened up about the reality behind Eternals, revealing that the project was barely on Marvel Studios’ radar before she signed on.
According to Zhao, the movie existed more as a possibility than a plan. She explained that Marvel wasn’t rushing to bring the cosmic epic to life because of how unusual it was compared to their usual output.
As she put it, “Eternals was not high on their priority list because it’s a quite unique IP and it [was] only on their list of potential players.” She added, “You know, with Marvel, it’s very much a thing to find the right filmmaker before they say, 'That’s the IP we’re gonna go for.'”
Marvel Studios was coming off a strange stretch. The pandemic wiped out theatrical releases in 2020, and the studio was trying to follow up an absurdly successful 2019 that ended with Avengers: Endgame. Against that backdrop, a philosophical, myth-heavy story about immortal beings probably didn’t scream “urgent.”
Things shifted once Zhao entered the picture. Her enthusiasm for the material clearly stood out, especially to Marvel president Kevin Feige, who apparently recognized how personal the project was for her.
Zhao recalled Feige telling her, “Literally no one in the world was interested in it or told you to do it, but you wanted to do it.”
I wouldn’t say “no one in the world” because a lot of filmmakers would’ve loved to take a crack at directing an Eternals movie for Marvel! There’s seriously so much cool stuff to play with there, especially in regards to the Celestials! Which the film barely touched on.
Eternals does feel slightly different from the rest of the MCU as the film leans into ancient history, Greek mythology, and long-lived warriors wrestling with humanity itself. The story centers on a group of immortal aliens who have quietly lived on Earth for thousands of years, only stepping into the spotlight after a tragedy forces them to confront the monstrous Deviants.
Zhao has said the script hit her hard from the start. When she first read it, she described feeling “electrified,” explaining, “I was given a Greek play where gods get to discuss everything about human nature based on their own relationship.”
That approach gave Eternals a tone that was far more reflective and somber than what Marvel fans were used to at the time.
That gamble didn’t fully pay off with critics or audiences. Eternals debuted to mixed reactions and remains one of the MCU’s most divisive entries. The movie currently sits at a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The story and characters were just handled all wrong.
Eternals wasn’t Zhao’s first brush with Marvel. Before landing the job, she was also considered to direct Black Widow. She was quick to clarify what that actually meant. “Let me set the record straight. It doesn’t mean I had a job. I was in the running,” Zhao said. “But it didn’t feel like the right story for me, so I pulled myself out [of contention].”
Nearly four years later, Zhao’s career is in a very different place. She’s now back in awards season territory with her 2025 adaptation of Hamnet, which earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Director. Whether Marvel ever brings her back into the MCU is anyone’s guess, but her time on Eternals clearly left a unique mark on the franchise.