Kevin Feige and Chloe Zhao Discuss Marvel's ETERNALS and Tease Going Bigger Than AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Eternals director Chloe Zhao has a lot on her plate right now. In a recent interview with THR, she opened up about the two films that she is simultaneously editing and getting ready for theatrical releases. The first is the film Nomadland starring Frances McDormand that is due out this December, and of course, Marvel’s Eternals, which currently has a release date of February 12, 2021.

In the interview, Zhao sang the praises of working with Marvel and Disney, saying:

 "I shot exactly the way I wanted to shoot. On location. A lot of magic hour. Three-hundred-sixty degrees on the same camera as I did on Nomadland. Same rigs. It’s a bit surreal. I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop. It hasn’t. I think I got lucky in that Marvel wants to take risks and do something different."

They did want to go in a whole new direction after completing the major film arc that ended with Avengers: Endgame, and MCU President Kevin Feige credits Zhao with the unique vision that made it all come together. He said:

“Her initial pitch to us was fascinating. And frankly one of the reasons we moved forward on the movie was because of the vision that she brought to it.”

She says a major influence on her vision was what she grew up watching and loving.

'“I have such deep, strong, manga roots. I brought some of that into Eternals. And I look forward to pushing more of that marriage of East and West.”

She’s also a fan of Marvel, so she has a unique perspective, and wants to do the franchise and characters justice.

“How much further and bigger can we go after [Avengers:] Endgame? Because I’m not just making the film as a director. I’m making the film as a fan."

Zhao and Feige went on to talk about what a diverse film Eternals is, and how the inclusion of many different types of people is a big, cool deal now, but will hopefully become more commonplace in future films. Of the LGBTQ relationship in the film, Feige said it "was always sort of inherent in the story and the makeup of the different types of Eternals. I think it is extremely well done, and I look forward to that level of inclusion in our future movies being less of a topic."

Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani said of the film’s diversity, specifically the Bollywood dance sequence, “When I walked onto the set and saw a huge group of brown people who were going to be in a Marvel movie, I felt such gratitude towards Chloé for creating the situation. The scene was full of joy.”

Everything I hear about this movie just gets me more and more excited! I loved the Infinity Saga so much, and I am ready to move on and develop the same love and excitement for new characters in the universe.

Eternals is set to hit theaters on February 12, 2021. Are you excited?