Later this month, fans of Marvel's Eternals will get the chance to go behind the scenes of the film thanks to Titan's upcoming Marvel's Eternals: The Official Movie Special Book. The fine folks over at Titan Comics were kind enough to share an excerpt from the new book, as well as a few of the behind-the-scenes photos that fans will get access to in the new hardcover. Be sure to check them out below!
Marvel's Eternals: The Official Movie Special Book is available for pre-order through Amazon.com starting today!
Where did you draw the inspiration for Marvel Studios’ Eternals?
Nate Moore (Executive Producer): In looking for new properties, we obviously comb through the history of Marvel comics. And Eternals is a title that has popped up in a lot of different conversations. But the expectation, I think, by our fans, is that we’re really gonna mine from Neil Gaiman’s early 2000s run. But for us, the true inspiration was from Jack Kirby’s original 1976 run. And that is partially because he really did steep that in sort of a world history, the history of the Aztecs. A lot of his design language, even his narrative inspiration was from the history of the world. We thought that was just a palette we hadn’t seen before.
What was the casting process like?
NM: It’s definitely the biggest ensemble cast we’ve ever had for a first film. I think the last time we even attempted to build a cast that size was Guardians of the Galaxy. And what is interesting about the Eternals, even narratively, is that the Celestials and the Eternals wanted to recruit a group of people who could integrate themselves on Earth. And the truth about Earth, is that there’s people from all walks of life. There’s people who look different from each other. There’s people of all ages. And that allowed us to build a cast of a lot of talented people that aren’t all from the same place. So, in almost every respect, this is our most international cast. There are five men, five women. And that’s all part of the narrative of why the Eternals came here and why they built their team the way they did. And it allowed us to work with a lot of talented people, like Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, younger actors like Lia McHugh or Barry Keoghan, up-and-coming actors like Brian Tyree Henry or Lauren Ridloff, and a very popular actor from South Korea named Don Lee. Salma Hayek, who can forget her? We really got to play with a lot of super-talented people who had never met each other. But they did find so many things in common that they became a family off-screen almost more quickly than they did on-screen.
We don’t always have a lot of time for rehearsals. But we did on this movie. So, a lot of the cast got to hang out here in Pinewood Studios in London before we ever rolled cameras, which I think translated to a different dynamic on set because they really knew and liked each other. And I think that really informs how they played the characters.
What are the challenges of putting together a film of this size and scope?
NM: Part of it is, you don’t have a road map. Whenever you launch a first film, it’s building that aesthetic so that it does stand alone, whether that be Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange or Ant-Man or Black Panther. So much work is done up front to try and build out a world that feels like its own world. Our filmmaker, Chloé Zhao, who comes out of a more naturalistic style of filmmaking, really pressed us to try and figure out how to shoot more of this on practical locations. This is a film that takes place outside and out of the blue screen more than anything we’ve tried before. Which again is challenging not just from a logistical standpoint of getting your crew to different places, of finding places where you can shoot outside, of battling rain and the elements, but also to shoot footage that then you can put this sci-fi overlay onto it in a way that is successful is challenging. It’s hard on your crew. It’s hard on your cast. It’s hard on our visual effects team, and postproduction will be a challenge for that reason, too. But it’s all in service of an aesthetic that’s totally different. And, again, that’s a challenge we wanted to take on, because after 25 some-odd movies, you have to be willing to push the envelope. And our audiences are ready to take that jump with us.
What is it about this comic book series that excited you in the first place?
Mitch Bell (VP, Physical Production, Producer): It’s always the basis where it starts, [in this case] with Jack Kirby. The great thing about Eternals that I love, is the fact that it spans through time. I love the fact that we can go through history and check in with Super Heroes. Because in all of our movies so far, all we’ve seen in terms of historical Super Heroes is Captain America [Captain America: The First Avenger] in World War II. So, to me, this is awesome, ’cause we can see them at the dawn of mankind. How were they in Mesopotamia? How were they in Babylon? Where are they during the middle centuries? So, I think that the exciting part of this is truly that, it’s the history of the Super Heroes.
Read the full interviews in Eternals: The Official Marvel Studios Movie Special, on sale August 16! Plus, check out interviews with the rest of the cast, including Gemma Chan (Sersi), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Salma Hayek (Ajak) and Kit Harington (Dane Whitman), and crew, including director Chloé Zhao!
About Eternals: Marvel's Eternals is based upon the Marvel comics race of the same name. It is the 26th film that is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Univers e (MCU) and was produced by Marvel Studios. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is in charge of its distribution. Chloé Zhao directed the movie, and she also co-wrote the script along with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo.
Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie are among the actors featured in the film's ensemble cast.
In the Eternals film, the main characters are a band of ancient heroes from beyond the stars who have been protecting Earth since the dawn of mankind. When monstrous creatures known as Deviants make a mysterious comeback after being thought to have been eradicated, the Eternals are compelled to reunite in order to protect humanity once more.