Although Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao will be bringing the Eternals to the big screen later this year, Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige revealed that she was originally being considered to helm the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Widow film.
Feige confirmed to Variety that Zhao -- who personally approached Marvel Studios as both a fan of Marvel Comics and the MCU -- was even on a list of potential directors to direct the Natasha Romanoff-focused film. However, Zhao removed herself from the list and instead worked on creating an Eternals pitch with Marvel Executive Producer Nate Moore.
Feige called the pitch "spectacular," and said the scope of the Eternals film is "very bold and very ambitious, sprawling 7,000-year story of humanity and our place in the cosmos."
Originally slated to hit theaters last year, both Black Widow and Eternals were delayed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The former movie will now arrive both in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access on July 9, while the latter is set for a Nov. 5 release.
Directed by Chloé Zhao from a screenplay by Matthew and Ryan Firpo, Eternals stars Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Barry Keoghan as Druig and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman/Black Knight. The film arrives in theaters Nov. 5.
Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Mason and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff. The film arrives in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access July 9.
Source: Variety