Eternals director Chloé Zhao explained how she pitched Harry Styles' Eros and Patton Oswalt's Pip the Troll to Marvel Studios President and CEO Kevin Feige.

Zhao spoke to Empire about bringing the character into the MCU, especially Eros, the brother of Thanos in the comics. Originally, his introduction would've been part of Eternals' bleak alternate ending. But once that plan was changed, Zhao still made it a priority to bring the Eternal into the fold.

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"Long story short, with that depressing ending, at some point he was going to be one of the Eternals on that ship. And that didn't quite work out," Zhao revealed. "But I had been wanting to bring Eros into the MCU. So I kept mentioning it to Kevin at every chance I had in the hallway, because I love the idea of Eros being another Eternal, another Ajak. He's an Eternal, and he was stationed on Titan – 10 of them were, just like the 10 Eternals on Earth, assuming Titan is also a host planet at some point. Now, if you think about that, what influence could Eros have had on the inhabitants of Titan, the way Ajak has influenced people on Earth? And how that has affected Thanos?"

Zhao went on to tease how Eros may have had a hand in Thanos' mission to wipe out half of life on Earth, implying that the character's emotional manipulation powers could have been responsible for the Mad Titan's plan.

"If you go to the comics, there's some quite beautiful, heartbreaking influence Eros has had on Thanos. And how much does Thanos know? I love him as a character," Zhao said. "It makes my imagination go crazy thinking, 'Why does Thanos think this way? Why is he worried about overpopulation and destroying his planet?' Think about the emergence – does Eros know about it? Maybe if he's an advisor, the way Ajak advised kings and queens on Earth? It gets my imagination going."

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While such a retcon could prove divisive, it's unclear what the future holds for Eros, Pip, and the Eternals. But Zhao sees Styles' character as a rogue similar to Han Solo. And when it came time to bring him to life, she only had eyes for Harry.

"For me, the backstory of Eros is that he deserted, he said, 'I'm not doing this anymore.' So he somehow got that sphere, which you saw in his hand, and he ran off and made Pip the Troll," Zhao continued. "They're like Han Solo and Chewie. Arishem's been looking for him, and he's just been a space outlaw. That's the character I had in my mind. But I never said once to Kevin, 'Here's the character. Let's find an actor.' For me, it was a package deal. It's got to be Harry. That's how I pitched it to Kevin."

Eternals is now playing in theaters and arrives Jan. 12 on Disney+.

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Source: Empire