Marvel’s new/old heroes prep for immortal combat.
Immortality beckons for Marvel’s new heroes…
DIRECTOR Chloé Zhao STARRING Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Gemma Chan
When Kevin Feige announced that Eternals was going to be “entirely new and entirely different”, he wasn’t kidding. Arriving as part of Marvel’s Phase 4, this tale of a group of god-like immortals offers the biggest injection of new characters into the MCU since 2014’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. At the helm is Chloé Zhao, the hugely talented director of The Rider and the Venice-winning Nomadland.
“I was a big fan of the MCU… I have been for a decade and, yeah, it just made sense,” says Zhao, explaining why she decided to take on this adaptation of Jack Kirby’s 1976 comic. Scripted by hot newcomers Kaz and Ryan Firpo, Eternals also assembles a hugely exciting cast to play this race of ancient, superpowered aliens who have secretly walked among humans for thousands of years.
Leading the pack, as wise guru Ajak, is “firecracker” Salma Hayek, says Zhao. “She’s got so much more life in her in a day than I have had my whole life! That woman is a blast!” Joining her are Angelina Jolie (as Thena), Richard Madden (Ikaris) and The Big Sick’s Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo). Other Eternals include Don Lee (Gilgamesh), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Lia McHugh
(Sprite) and Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), who will play Marvel’s first deaf hero.
Yet that doesn’t come near to completing an ensemble that also features Game Of Thrones’ Kit Harington, as human-warrior Dane Whitman, Gemma Chan as fanfavourite Eternal Sersi, and Dunkirk’s Barry Keoghan as the aloof Druig. “I think that the whole Eternals cast… they’re diverse, not just in ethnicity, but in their background, as individuals,” says Zhao. “They’re quite unique individuals and when you put them together, there is a chemistry that excites me.”
Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, the plot is still very much under wraps, beyond that the Eternals must defend Earth from the Deviants, a rival ancient race. What is certain is that the gods are clearly looking over Eternals – the film shot in the UK and in the Canary Islands, wrapping in February 2020, just before the Covid-inspired lockdown.
While Eternals’ release still got pushed back a year, to November 2021, Zhao’s been left to figure out how to finish post-production remotely. “You want us to be able to screen it for an audience. And that’s been tough,” she sighs. “But we’re figuring out creative ways of doing it.” A Zoom test-screening, maybe? The gods will be watching…
ETA I 5 NOVEMBER 2021