Eternals director Chloé Zhao explained how Marvel took risks with the film in allowing her to bring indie sensibilities to the MCU.
Zhao spoke to SiriusXM's Jess Cagle about the upcoming film and what will surprise fans about it. "Well, I do think, this is so boring you are going to roll your eyes, but I think Marvel, I think this film is very – I think they took a big risk with this one," Zhao said. "I think they're going to surprise you. I hope so."
For Zhao, the risk comes down to not just tone but technical aspects. For example, she brought her unique style of filmmaking to the big-budget project, and those choices have certain ramifications.
"I think this is where Marvel really took the risk that we knew we wanted to shoot on location, because by shooting wide-angle lenses on locations, it's going to affect how you do visual effects," she said. "It's going to affect how you do the action. There's a lot that will feel and look differently. We shot mostly on location, but I love being on the stage, learning about the technology, cus I grew up with manga. I always imagined I wanted to be a manga artist. So for me, I always imagined stuff that doesn't exist."
Marvel Studios has long brought directors from the world of indie filmmaking into the fold, but Zhao represents their most prestigious find yet. Her current film, Nomadland, is already an Oscar contender and is receiving significant buzz for its look and story that humanizes the American working poor. And Zhao directly applied techniques from the film to her MCU debut.
She recently revealed that 90% of Eternals was filmed using the same camera and setup as she used on Nomadland, meaning the movie might be Marvel's most striking picture yet. Zhao also wrote the screenplay for the film and used a similar technique as Nomadland when it came to writing the characters. In the indie film, she cast real people in key roles. For the Marvel movie, she wrote the characters around the actors to help ensure a similar level of authenticity. All told, it certainly seems that Marvel Studios has taken many risks in allowing Zhao to fully realize her vision for the project.
Directed by Chloé Zhao, 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, 2021.
Source: SiriusXM via Digital Spy