Eternals star Angelina Jolie alluded to a potential sequel while discussing the dynamic between her character, Thena, and her fellow Eternal Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) in the film.
Nanjiani and Jolie heaped praise upon one another's performances while attending the Eternals red carpet premiere, prompting Jolie to note, "Can you tell we both are obsessed with each others' characters? So we're hoping in the sequel, we actually think our characters are very good sparring partners because we're almost polar opposites, but yet they're both a little, like, out there."
Chloé Zhao co-writes and directs Eternals, a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie centering on a race of immortal aliens -- known as the Eternals -- that's spent thousands of years defending humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants, when a new threat emerges in the wake of the Blip. Their ranks include Kingo, who can generate energy projectiles and resides among the people of Earth as a modern Bollywood star. Jolie's Thena is similarly capable of creating weapons out of cosmic energy but is struggling with Mahd Wy’ry (memory loss for Eternals) in the film's present-day, leading her to isolate herself in a cabin in Australia.
"Because of the amount of memories they have, they become unstuck in their own mind," explained Eternals producer Nate Moore in a recent interview, "so [Thena] starts to forget exactly when she is, so through the course of the movie, [her fellow Eternal] Gilgamesh becomes her protector." He went on to tease Thena's journey in the film, describing it as "a fun arc for Angelina to play."
While Jolie previously admitted to passing on at least one other major superhero role, she found herself drawn to Zhao's vision for the movie. "I don't usually lean towards superhero or sci-fi films," said Jolie. "It's not usually what I'm looking to do. It felt like something else was happening in [Eternals], though. It was very character-driven."
Zhao, for her part, recently teased that Eternals will have "a huge effect on the future of the MCU," but has avoided discussing her plans for the franchise beyond that, including whether she intends to direct the sequel -- should it ultimately receive a green light. The film opens in theaters Nov. 5.
Source: YouTube