You know the superhero-obsessed fandom loves when Zack Snyder starts trending again. And over the weekend, he began trending after an interview with “Eternals” filmmaker Chloe Zhao was released, where the filmmaker not only credits Snyder for influencing her film, but she also compares his “Man of Steel” to the work of legendary filmmaker, Terrence Malick.
When speaking to the French outlet, Pure Break, Zhao was asked if there was any inspiration from Superman comics that went into her development of the Eternals hero, Ikaris. In the film, Ikaris is shown to be the powerhouse member of the team with superpowers that resemble Superman’s quite heavily. Zhao was quick to confirm that comparison.
“You said it, not me! Superman is the Übermensch, the ultimate man, the superman, a concept that exists in all cultures,” said Zhao. “Of all modern interpretations of Superman, this is Zack Snyder’s with ‘Man Of Steel’ which inspired me the most because he approached this myth in an authentic and very real way. I remember thinking it was Superman by Terrence Malick when I saw the trailer. This film left a strong impression on me. But Ikaris is, of course, our own take on Superman.”
Of course, if you’ve seen “Eternals,” you know there’s a scene in the film that point-blank refers to Ikaris as Superman, with the hero correcting a young kid and saying that he doesn’t wear a cape like the Man of Steel. When she was asked if it was difficult to get a Superman mention in “Eternals,” Zhao said there was “no hesitation” at all by the Marvel folks.
Now, if you want to get into spoilers, you can see some more ways in which Zhao was likely influenced by Snyder’s “Man of Steel” and how the latter chose to characterize Superman. It’s also obvious from the shots and some of the scenes that Zhao was pretty well inspired by Malick’s work also, so it makes sense that she would compare the two filmmakers.
As you might expect, once news of Zhao talking about how she was influenced by Zack Snyder hit social media, Twitter erupted with Snyder Faithful creating #ZackSnyderistheblueprint and showing how the filmmaker has crafted the “blueprint” for modern superhero stories. Take that for what it’s worth.
“Eternals” is in theaters now.
You can see the Superman moment in “Eternals” in the clip below: