In Marvel's Eternals, Superman gets a mention when Phastos' (Brian Tyree Henry) son meets Ikaris (Richard Madden) and mistakes him for the big blue boy-scout. Later, Karun (Harish Patel) says he's the Alfred to Kingo's (Kumail Nanjiani) Batman.
These scenes obviously suggest that DC Comics heroes and villains do exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as fictional characters, and director Chloé Zhao has now explained why she wanted to include these much-discussed references.
"I take responsibility for that," Zhao tells Empire Magazine. "I just believe we all should live in one big happy family. And also, you know, we can talk about the elephant in the room – which is that Ikaris [Richard Madden] reminds people of Superman. There are many brilliant filmmakers who've brought Superman to the screen in their own modern interpretation of this beloved mythology that exists in many cultures. So I just felt it's great to pay tribute, it's great to acknowledge these iconic interpretations of Superman."
Zhao has previously revealed that Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and Henry Cavill's take on Superman were big influences on her interpretation of Ikaris, and it sounds like Eternals almost included even more DC nods.
"In Eternals, Gilgamesh [Don Lee], watches his movies while he's looking after Thena [Angelina Jolie]. You will see that there's going to be a deleted scene where he talks about another film that's gonna make you smile. And he loves Batman movies."
Eternals will premiere on Disney+ on January 12, but we probably won't get to see this deleted scene until the movie is released on DVD and Blu-ray.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.