The popularity of superhero and comic book-based movies has undeniably waned over the past few years, with many - including legendary filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola - putting this supposed "fatigue" down to the overall disposability of the genre.
One renowned filmmaker who doesn't see it quite that way is Eternals director Chloé Zhao, who boarded the Marvel Studios epic after helming 2020's Oscar-winning Nomadland.
During a masterclass about her career at the Venice Film Festival on Friday, Zhao reflected on her experience working on Eternals, which proved to be a critical (it was Marvel's first "Rotten" movie on Rotten Tomatoes) and commercial disappointment.
"I loved doing it,” she said of directing Eternals. “For any of you who love anime, I know you know this was a girl’s dream come true. Comic books are the western equivalent of [manga]. They are very different, but I live in the west, and that’s what I had access to.”
Zhao was also asked about the recent backlash to the genre, particularly Scorsese's "them park rides" comparison.
“I do feel it’s important to not write off stories because we don’t consider them high art,” she said. “The purpose of storytelling for me, humbly, is to create containers for people … to try to process what they need to process. Archetypes are such a great way to do it — and we see them in myths — is because it’s something we all share.”.
Zhao has previously said that she was proud of how Eternals turned out, but when asked about the movie's reception, the filmmaker admitted that the project simply wasn't that high a priority for Marvel, possibly suggesting that not quite enough time and effort was put in to make the film the best it could be.
“Eternals was not high on their priority list,” she explained. “Because it’s a quite unique IP and it [was] only on their list of potential players. 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.’”
Zhao also noted that Kevin Feige saw how passionate she was about the property, trusting her to make a film that “literally no one in the world was interested in."
In another recent interview, revealed that she was in contention to helm a different MCU movie before landing Eternals.
"I went in at first for Black Widow, and then there was a scheduling conflict. And then when Nate Moore, my producer for Eternals, showed me the treatment, I went, 'Oh, wow, I get to have all these immortals, like a Greek play, to discuss humanity. And then I get to create monsters and space gods, right?' It probably should have scared me. I don’t know. I tend to jump before I know how to swim"
We've heard conflicting reports about an Eternals sequel over the years, but at this stage, another movie revolving around the team of immortal androids is looking less and less likely.
Tiamut did appear in Captain America: Brave New World, but the gigantic Celestial was only used as a plot device to introduce Adamantium to the MCU. It's difficult to imagine Marvel completely disregarding everything else associated with Eternals, but at the same time, we're not sure which planned big or small-screen projects make sense to facilitate their return.
Would you like to see the Eternals back in the MCU? Let us know in the comments section down below.
Marvel Studios’ Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again.
The outstanding ensemble cast includes Gemma Chan as humankind-loving Sersi, Richard Madden as the all-powerful Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as cosmic-powered Kingo, Lia McHugh as the eternally young, old-soul Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as the intelligent inventor Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as the super-fast Makkari, Barry Keoghan as aloof loner Druig, Don Lee as the powerful Gilgamesh, with Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, with Salma Hayek as the wise and spiritual leader Ajak, and Angelina Jolie as the fierce warrior Thena.