Before Chloe Zhao ever made “Eternals” for Marvel Studios, she was actually chasing a different job in the MCU: “Black Widow.” In a new conversation, she explains that she first went in for the Scarlett Johansson solo film, only to have plans derailed by timing, and adds that she’d happily return to the superhero sandbox if the right story comes along.
Speaking at Puck’s Stories of the Season event, Zhao said the appeal of a Marvel project grew directly out of a decade she spent traveling across America, grappling with nature, community, and big questions about humanity. “For those 10 years when I was going around America and learning new ways of life and having a relationship with nature, something was bubbling inside really intensely,” she said. “The volcano reference erupted, and that was in the form of ‘Eternals.’ Because ‘Eternals’ at its heart is a story about a pantheon of gods having discussions about the nature of humanity. … And it was my way of trying to process all the questions I was having in those 10 years of making the first three films. Also, I love allegorical storytelling. I love mythology-building stories. I grew up in manga and anime. So it was amazing to be able to play in that world.”
She’s quick to point out that Marvel didn’t “discover” her so much as she went knocking on their door. Asked if they called, and she simply said she was interested, Zhao corrects the record. “No, I called them,” she said, laughing off the idea that this was a one-way overture from the studio.
From there, Zhao explains that her first meetings weren’t about cosmic space gods at all, but about Natasha Romanoff. She said it started with a project that ultimately couldn’t line up on the calendar. “It might be a mutual calling,” she said. “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?”
Even with that pivot from a grounded spy thriller to a sprawling cosmic ensemble, Zhao said she didn’t let herself be intimidated by the scale or the commercial expectations. When the conversation turns to whether taking on a massive, branded franchise should have scared her, she’s pretty blunt. “It probably should have scared me,” she admits. “I don’t know. I tend to jump before I know how to swim.”
Crucially, Zhao doesn’t talk about Marvel as something she’s now done and dusted. When she’s asked outright if she’d make another superhero movie for the studio, she answers without hedging. “I would, yeah,” she admitted. “With the right story, if it chooses me.” That last phrase echoes the way she often talks about her work more broadly — stories “choosing” her rather than the other way around — and suggests she still sees the MCU as a place where that kind of alignment could happen again.
The rest of the conversation underlined how busy and IP-adjacent her slate already is. Zhao discussed her recent deal with Kodansha, the Japanese publishing giant, and stated that her long-term dream is to serve as a bridge between Eastern and Western storytelling, particularly when it comes to adapting manga and anime. “My whole life, it’s always been a dream to be able to create and foster more connection and understanding between the East and the West,” she said. “It’s very meaningful to me to be able to be a bridge between the Japanese authors and the international filmmakers, because there have been, traditionally, some difficulties in adapting Japanese manga anime into live action. There’s a lot of loss in translation.”
She also confirms that her long-gestating “Buffy” TV project is further along than people might realize. Asked how the pilot is going, Zhao keeps it simple: “Great, we shot it already. It’s done,” she revealed, before adding that she’s happy with where it’s landed.
Taken together, Zhao’s comments make it clear that her time in the MCU wasn’t a one-off detour away from “serious” cinema, but part of a broader fascination with big, mythic, allegorical genre storytelling — whether that’s gods debating humanity, a lost Black Widow assignment, a “Buffy” reboot, or live-action anime. And if Marvel comes calling again, it sounds like the door is very much still open, as long as the next story feels like it chooses her back.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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