We have a spoiler for you. You’ve been warned. It will shake you to your core. It might even make you question your humanity. Yes, Chloe Zhao‘s two Academy Awards for “Nomadland” are currently safely secure in her…closet. Don’t fret, however, the golden icons will hopefully find sunnier skies (or a nice mantle soon). Zhao hopes to give them to her parents, at least that’s the current plan. Wait, were you expecting some mammoth spoiler about her new Marvel Studios epic “Eternals?”
Please, we’ll let Variety writers make that mistake.
READ MORE: Chloe Zhao Drew Inspiration From Terrence Malick, Christopher Nolan & More For “Eternals”
Spanning thousands of years, “Eternals” brings a team of previously unknown cosmic guardians to the forefront of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Created by comic book legend Jack Kirby in 1976, the team consists of Sersi (Gemma Chan), a matter manipulator, Sprite (Lia McHugh), a master illusionist, Thena (Angelina Jolie), a great warrior who was the inspiration for the Greek god Athena, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), a manipulator of technology, Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), a Bollywood star who can release powerful energy blasts, Ajak (Salma Hayek), a miraculous healer, Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), who has the power of super speed, Druig (Barry Keoghan), master of the human mind, Gilgamesh (Don Lee), the beneficiary of super strength, and, last but not least, Ikaris (Richard Madden). What powers did the ancient celestials bestow upon the most handsome of Eternal of them all? Well, he can fly, appears practically invulnerable, has super strength, and shoots beams of energy from his eyes. If that sounds a wee bit familiar, well, Zhao doesn’t shy away from the obvious comparison to DC Comics’ Man of Steel. Even in the context of this Marvel movie.
“I think I definitely take a lot of responsibility for that,” Zhao says. “Because anything happens in this film is a tribute to characters we love, films we love. And so our Batman, Superman, these characters are incredible. And I think we’re here in the business of telling story of myth. Superman, all the comics, and every brilliant filmmaker that had brought Superman to life is playing ancient mythology with a modern twist, their own version of that mythology, and Ikaris in a way is, is our take on it. But that’s doesn’t mean we can’t pay tribute and have a good time with the ones that are so iconic.”
In an interview conducted the afternoon following “Eternals” world premiere, Zhao discusses her stunning visual aesthetic for the film, how the film’s historic MCU kiss came to be, whether she’d return for an “Eternals” sequel, if a “Star Wars” film could be in her future, and much more.
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The Playlist: You get the breakdown for this project. You go in and see Kevin Feige. What is your pitch? What did you tell him that got you the gig?
Chloe Zhao: I think I started the pitch with a picture of a macro picture of sand. If you Google “macro picture of sand”, it’s pretty incredible. And then I started citing a poem by William Blake. I think that might be it, and that poem summed up my vision for the film, especially visually. And I think that really intrigued him.
I saw the press conference earlier today and you talked about how a lot of the characters and sort of the gender-switching had already sort of been decided by Marvel beforehand, but this film has a lot of firsts. It has Makkari, being the first deaf superhero. It has Phastos, having his husband on-screen and something, I have to be honest, that was very moving was the first on-screen gay kiss in a Marvel movie between the two of them. Can you just talk about whether any of that was decided when you came on board or after?
Well, I think the medium of film, from the conception of this idea of Phastos having a family to what you saw last night, there are many, many, many people got in the party and influenced the decision. I think that was in the script stage and the treatment stage, it was always there. And then casting Brian [Tyree Henry] was such a blessing to us because he really feels Phastos in his heart. He really gets it. So I have really relied on my cast to bring to the character a sense of who they are. I mean, Bryan showed up. Everything from his power he came up with. All the hand gestures and he came up with backstories and jokes and the way of talking he has with his son. He showed up to set with all these prepared, and they’re just wonderful to work with. So much for me to choose from and then you have these two actors on that day and you know there will be a moment where they become intimate and what I love about filmmaking, and you know this, is that only up until that moment we’re still unsure what is going to happen. And like that happened, and when it does, we’re just lucky enough to be there, to capture something very specific and unique and spontaneous. So yes, it’s planned, but it’s never locked in, you know, I have to feel it in the moment and it was perfect.
It was a beautiful moment. I know many people before they see this film would think, “O.K., I’ve seen Chloe’s films. I know there’s going to be shots at dusk. I know, I know some of her aesthetic,” but “Eternals” has an aesthetic that is so beyond that, totally different from other MCU movies. What was your inspiration for that?
Well, the way I like to put it is a National Geographic way of capturing things. Meaning, we do not let the camera be the hero. We’re not impressing you or telling you a story with the most impressive cut or where the camera moves. Camera often observes and drift the same way in “Nomadland.” What’s within the frame, has to be intriguing enough to hold the audience. And that way the audience gets to discover the frame themselves and they get to come to conclusions, what’s this relationship between this character and the worlds that existed, like Sersi in the Babylon village. Awe for humanity is discovered and felt by the audience not told to the audience. So we watched “Tree of Life” a lot at the beginning because what “Tree of Life” does is capture something so grand [and] tells stories so big within a small family in an intimate moment. It’s a film I’ll always aspire to, and, keeping that in mind all the time, with the whole creative team was the key.
The characters go through all these different eras of ancient history. Was there one, in particular, you were most excited about tackling?
Ancient Babylon was very exciting because we don’t quite know exactly what everything looked like. So we were given some liberty, even the language we were really, it was amazing to work with the language expert to kind of think how they would pronounce certain things. And that part of history is just, it leaves so much imagination for people all over the world, Babylon. Yeah, that was cool.
It’s in the context of pop culture, but the characters refer to some other superheroes that aren’t in the MCU over the course of the film. Was that just in the script when you got it or an idea suggested while shooting? How did that come about?
I think I definitely take a lot of responsibility for that. Because anything that happens in this film is a tribute to characters we love, films we love. And so our Batman, Superman, these characters are incredible. And I think we’re here in the business of telling the story of myth. Superman, all the comics, and every brilliant filmmaker that had brought Superman to life is playing an ancient mythology with a modern twist, their own version of that mythology, and Ikaris in a way is, is our take on it. But that’s doesn’t mean we can’t pay tribute and have a good time with the ones that are so iconic.
It was very fun. Speaking of Ikaris, I feel like I’m not really giving anything away, but in the film Sersi reveals that she hasn’t seen him in a hundred years. Do you know what Ikaris was doing for a century? And then also in a larger context, did you, did all the actors have an idea of what their characters had been through before they reunite?
I think it varies. I just say [to the actors], “Make it up yourself. Whatever works for you, you are chosen for a reason.” I rely on my cast to help me craft the characters. Technically, I would guide them logistically where they’d be, but with Ikaris, actually there were drafts of the scripts [where you] get to see where he’s been and he has really been the watcher on the wall. He’s incapable of relating to humanity unless he’s with Sersi. He misses seeing the world through her eyes because he’s floating while her hand is on the ground, not grounded enough to be human. So he really just kept his eyes out for anything, is there any potential Deviants that are still left unchecked. You know, we have these images of him quite lonely, he’s quite a lonely figure.
The movie does end in a way that there could be another “Eternals” film. Would you be up for doing a second one or do you sort of feel like this is it?
What I loved about making this film is that it tied so close to the origin of the MCU is also going to have a big repercussion moving MCU forward. With those two as secured, we get to play and do whatever we want and make a stand strong standalone film and leave everything on the table. I would be back in a second working with the team at Marvel for sure. So we’ll see.
I know that Kevin is a big fan of yours and he is working on a “Star Wars” movie. Would you ever consider directing a “Star Wars” film?
I would, I’ll do anything Kevin asked me to do.[Laughs.]
O.K. That’s an answer! And then my last question for you is, where are the Oscars? Where are they in your home?
I don’t know where they are. I think they are in the closet somewhere protected. I want them, I want to give them back to my parents back home.
Oh, that’s awesome, Chloe. Congratulations. So good to see you and hope to see you down the road.
Down the road! [Laughs.]*
*”Nomadland” reference for those playing at home.
“Eternals” opens nationwide on November 5.