‘Eternals’: 9 Things to Know About Chloé Zhao’s First Marvel Superhero Epic

Where We Are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown over the past two decades, things like “linear timelines” and “direct sequels” have become, well, at least no longer the norm. Timelines bend and twist not just from film to film, but even from moment to moment (looking at you, last two “Avengers” films). Fortunately, we’ve got a clear idea of when “Eternals” takes place, at least in cinematic terms: after the event of “Avengers: Endgame.” 

Okay, so there’s also a twist on that: while the film picks up post-“Endgame” (and thus also post-“Blip”), it’s also been billed as a time-spanning epic that follows characters who have been on Earth for over 7,000 years, so expect some generous flashbacks.

Back in the real world, the film will arrive after the release of two other major MCU 2021 titles: “Black Widow” (itself a prequel to the majority of the events that have taken place in the MCU) and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (while there are questions as to when exactly the film is set, general consensus is that it takes place in its own post-“Blip” timeframe). Given that Phase Four is tasked with blazing a new path through the franchise, it stands to reason that both “Eternals” and “Shang-Chi” will introduce a large assortment of new superheroes to follow into the future (and, of course, into future sequels). 

Chloé Zhao Makes Her Big Budget Debut

Oscar-winning director Zhao might not have been a big name to most superhero fans when she was picked to direct the film way back in 2018, but needless to say, the past few years have greatly risen her profile in cinematic circles of all kinds. While Zhao’s Best Picture-winning “Nomadland” is likely the first film that people think of when they consider her career, Zhao was picked to direct “Eternals” before she even shot the road movie, and it was her work on her breakout film “The Rider” that apparently caught the eye of Marvel brass.

For anyone worried that Zhao’s signature style won’t be on display in the film, there’s little to fear. As the director told The Hollywood Reporter, “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.”

Beyond her lush filmmaking style, Zhao’s affection for deeply felt human stories also makes her a compelling pick for a film like “Eternals,” which follows an enviable cast of (literally) extraordinary characters. If anyone can ground these super-powered heroes in the real world, it’s Zhao.

The Story Spans Thousands of Years

According to a meticulously cobbled together synopsis over on Wikipedia, the film picks up “after an unexpected tragedy following the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame'” and sees “the Eternals — an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7,000 years — reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.”

The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby, and made their first appearance in “The Eternals #1” back in July 1976. First imagined as protectors of Earth, they’ve long been locked in a battle with the (obviously evil) Deviants. Over the course of decades of comic book mythology, the Eternals have fought both the baddies and each other, and it seems as if Zhao’s film will combine both their internal struggles and an external threat.

While not exactly immortal, the Eternals all enjoy long life spans, little physical fatigue, and the possibility of tapping into a wide range of powers. Early notes on the story and its characters hint at how those elements have impacted humanity: at least one of the Eternals (Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos) has been sharing their technological gifts with the world, while another (Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo) has become a Bollywood star. While details are slim, expect the film to function as both a reunion and an introduction (remember: time-spanning drama!).

The All-Star Cast Might Be Marvel’s Best Yet

Marvel and Zhao went all out for this one: you know a film is destined to be massive when the first attached cast member is Angelina Jolie. Others followed quickly, including Kumail Nanjiani and “Game of Thrones” star Richard Madden. By the time the film completed casting, it had assembled a stellar assortment of talent, including Gemma Chan, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, and Kit Harington.

As IndieWire’s own Zack Sharf argued when Madden was announced for the project, piling up on the star power has proven to work out for the MCU in the past. As he wrote, “as Marvel heads into Phase Four and takes on more outlier material like ‘Eternals’ it is wisely betting on fan favorite actors to ensure continued financial success. Richard Madden and Angelina Jolie as members of a superhero team will be enough to sell millions on ‘Eternals’ without pre-existing knowledge of the source material.”

He added, “‘Eternals’ is similar to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ in the sense that most moviegoers probably haven’t heard of them prior to the MCU. While Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt were known when they were cast in ‘Guardians,’ the film hardly had the kind of star power that Jolie is set to bring to ‘Eternals.’ Regardless, ‘Guardians’ was a massive hit and made household names out of its superheroes. With Jolie, Madden, and Nanjiani in front of the camera, ‘Eternals’ should have no issue following suit.”

The Screenwriters Are Marvel Newbies

When Marvel first announced that they were developing an “Eternals” film, the studio (predictably) went out to a variety of screenwriters, with cousins Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo winning out with an idea that focused on Chan’s Sersei (with a love story element involving Madden’s Ikaris).

The film will be the cousins’ first produced feature, though they’ve got a number of hot projects in the works, including the post-WWII drama “Ruin” (to be directed by Justin Kurzel, with Margot Robbie starring). Of the pair, Kaz is the best known, and the young scribe has racked up an impressive number of accolades during his short career, including appearances on the Black List, Hit List, and Blood List, as well as being a two-time finalist in the Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship. Marvel, it seemed, wanted new blood, and the studio seems to have found that with the Firpos.

But that’s not all. In January, Zhao revealed that she had also picked up screenwriting duties on the tentpole and will be credited alongside the Firpos. “I don’t know what it would be like if I didn’t write the film, if I wasn’t at least a huge part of the writing process,” she said in a video interview.

The Below the Line Talent Is Impressive, Too

Joining Zhao for “Eternals” is composer Ramin Djawadi, best known for his work on HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” and cinematographer Ben Davis, who has helped shape the look of the MCU for years now as the DP on “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015), “Doctor Strange” (2016), and “Captain Marvel” (2019). 

But Marvel brass have also brought in some new talent, most notably on the editing side. Zhao herself is the credited editor on two of her films, “Songs My Brother Taught Me” and “Nomadland,” receiving sole editor credit on her recent Oscar winner. But the director confirmed to Variety following the 93rd Academy Awards that for “Eternals,” she’s not on editing duty. That credit is being shared by Dylan Tichenor and Craig Wood.

“I’m working with two incredible editors, Wood and Tichenor,” Zhao told the outlet. “And they’ve taught me so much. They were very patient with me, because they know it’s the first time that I’ve collaborated with editors that way. They’ve really helped me find the language to be able to communicate with them in a way that I hadn’t had to do to this extent.”

Cinephiles are most likely familiar with the name Dylan Tichenor, as he’s the longtime editor for Paul Thomas Anderson and has also served as editor for Wes Anderson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”), M. Night Shyamalan (“Unbreakable”), Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain”), and Andrew Dominik (“Jesse James”). Tichenor got his start as an assistant editor on Robert Altman’s “The Player” and “Short Cuts” before joining forces with Anderson on “Hard Eight” as a post-production coordinator and then editor of “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” “There Will Be Blood,” and “Phantom Thread.” Tichernor has received Oscar nominations for Best Film Editing with “There Will Be Blood” and “Zero Dark Thirty.”

“Eternals” co-editor Craig Wood comes from the Marvel family, having served as co-editor on “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” Wood’s blockbuster work also includes the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” Wood won the ACE Eddie for Best Edited Animated Feature Film and the Annie Award for Best Editing in a Feature Production for his work on “Rango.”

It’s Breaking Some Major Barriers for Superhero Films

There’s little question that the MCU could stand to add some diversity to its superhero stats (this is, after all, a franchise that has struggled to honor even its impressive female stars, let alone anyone else that doesn’t quite fit the buff, white, male persona so long associated with the big-name heroes), and it seems as if Phase Four might be the start of some real evolutions when it comes to who is a superhero. “Eternals” will account for at least two of them.

In March 2019, Victoria Alonso, Marvel’s production chief and a co-producer or executive producer on every entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, announced that it was finally time for an openly gay superhero to star in one of Disney and Marvel Studios’ comic book tentpoles. Asked by Variety on the “Captain Marvel” red carpet, Alonso responded with optimism and said, “The world is ready, the world is ready.”

Marvel Studios appeared ready as well. Kevin Feige teased in 2015 that an LGBTQ character could appear in an “Avengers” movie sometime in the next decade during Phase Four of the MCU, but Alonso appeared more confident the time has come. “Why wouldn’t we be? Why wouldn’t we be?” Alonso said about increasing diversity within the MCU and adding a gay superhero.

A year later, we got the answer: “Eternals” will feature the MCU’s first openly gay superhero. In an interview with Logo, “Eternals” actor Haaz Sleiman reveals his character is one half of the gay couple that appears in the movie. Sleiman says his character is “married to the gay superhero Phastos, played by ‘Atlanta’s’ Brian Tyree Henry, and we represent a gay family and have a child.”

Marvel’s parent company Disney has promised significant gay moments in past tentpoles only for them to not be too explicit (who can forget the live-action “Beauty and the Beast” remake?), but Sleiman promises significant gay representation in “Eternals.” The actor says the Chloe Zhao-directed superhero film will show Marvel’s first gay kiss.

“It’s a beautiful, very moving kiss,” Sleiman said. “Everyone cried on set. For me it’s very important to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be. Brian Tyree Henry is such a tremendous actor and brought so much beauty into this part, and at one point I saw a child in his eyes, and I think it’s important for the world to be reminded that we in the queer community we’re all children at one point. We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.”

That’s not all, as “Eternals” will also include the first deaf MCU hero, Makkari, as played by Lauren Ridloff, who is herself deaf. Makkari’s deafness also plays an interesting role in her powers: she often creates sonic booms via her super-speed, but the sound doesn’t bother her at all.

The Moved-Around Launch and New Release Date

Like so many major Hollywood features, “Eternals” has been shoved around the release calendar quite a bit in recent months. First set for release on November 6, 2020, the film was then shifted to February 12, 2021, before finally landing on its current date of November 5, 2021.

The film, unlike other upcoming major Disney entries like “Black Widow” and “Cruella,” is not expected to roll out in theaters and on Disney+ simultaneously, making it a major theater-only event.

What It Says About the MCU Going Forward

While the last three “phases” of MCU films all built up to the gobsmacking drama, trauma, and action of the last two “Avengers” films, Phase Four is poised to take more adventurous, ambitious twists and turns. Though the current film lineup, stretching all the way through 2023 and beyond, includes plenty of sequels involving beloved characters (from Thor to Spider-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy to Doctor Strange), it’s the newbies like the Eternals and Shang-Chi that are the most thrilling.

They are also, of course, the most different. Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Shang-Chi” will introduce a whole new side of the superhero world, complete with a thrilling assortment of new Asian stars, while Zhao’s film promises to marry indie sensibilities with big budget firepower in a wholly new way. So much of what’s to come in the MCU does sound familiar, but that it’s also punctuated with unexpected stories like “Eternals” is the sort of thing that can’t help but make us think we’re in for something new. It’s about time.