A credit on a Marvel film has come to signify career-defining recognition for many. After almost 15 years of commercial success, Marvel Studios gets first dibs on best-in-class filmmakers -- but President Kevin Feige is still more likely to take a chance on the more obscure directors in the industry. Some, like Bassam Tariq, the director of 2022’s Blade, have only recently released a debut feature film. Others were indie auteurs with beloved cult followings long before their tenure with Marvel. But with Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, the studio might have scored their most coveted director yet.
With Eternals, Zhao leads Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU) into its ambitious new phase. She also joins Tariq, The Marvels’ Nia DaCosta, and Shang Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton as some of the most diverse talent that the studio has ever placed behind the camera. This echoes certain picks from Marvel’s Phase 3 lineup, which tapped directors like Ryan Coogler and Taika Waititi -- but it’s never happened with the frequency seen in today's times.
It’s interesting to watch Feige and co. draw more and more from the well of indie cinema as the years pass, and rely less on huge, franchise-carrying names than their competitors. Feige has always defended his handpicked roster of indie directors, especially against scrutiny:
“We want filmmakers that can help us focus on and elevate character journey,” Feige asserted, after Captain Marvel duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were tapped for Carol Danvers’ origin story.
Marvel genuinely wants to make good films, and keep their characters from getting “lost amongst the spectacle.” But, lately, their films have been just good, not great -- with some exceptions -- and feel more concerned with cultural impact than with the grounded narratives Feige has emphasized. The empty spectacle of the MCU’s latest has only made matters more contentious with the industry titans that they haven’t won over: the Spielbergs and the Scorseses who mourn the end of cinema as they know it.
Zhao and her diverse, star-studded cast managed to tell a good story with Eternals. Again, good, but not entirely great, if the film’s dismal reviews are any indication. Eternals has the poorest ratings of any MCU film to date. Even apart from the fans review-bombing the film for its LGBTQ+ representation, critics still were unimpressed. Many questioned Zhao’s place in a franchise so dramatically different from her usual fare. Others wondered, in spite of Feige and Zhao’s assertions, how much of a hand the director really had in shaping the exposition-heavy story.
It’s no secret that Zhao shouldered more responsibility outside of the director’s chair -- she’s even credited twice as a writer for Eternals. However, besides the breathtaking visuals, not much of her signature style seems to shine through the traditional MCU set pieces. In some ways, it feels like either a grave miscommunication or a waste of Zhao’s talents as a filmmaker, and this wouldn’t exactly be the first time Marvel has wasted talent.
For all the raw potential at Marvel’s disposal, the studio still doesn't seem very open to new ideas. To an extent, that’s understandable, as comic book films can’t afford to be too complicated. But that also means that directors like Denis Villeneuve, who have criticized Marvel’s formulaic, cookie-cutter approach to moviemaking, aren’t entirely wrong in their criticisms.
Eternals was marketed as a sprawling, ambitious step into the larger cosmic universe that Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor opened doors to, but it fell prey to the traditional Marvel trappings. Despite the emphasis on Chloé Zhao, and the "bold new step" the film represented for the MCU, the universe's overarching vision took precedence. This is why Eternals felt so tame and empty, even with the massive visual spectacles audiences were promised.
It makes the studio’s reliance on indie filmmakers all the more disingenuous. Is their recruitment strategy really the key to appeasing the industry's biggest names? Or, is it an effort to control their interconnected franchise better than they could with a more individualistic director, such as Joss Whedon or Edgar Wright, who cut ties from Ant-Man over creative differences? The latter possibility echoes a claim from Lucrecia Martel, who Marvel approached as a hopeful director for Black Widow. Martel declined the offer, allegedly after the studio assured her that action scenes would be handled by someone else.
In spite of it all, Eternals is projected to exceed expectations at the box office. Hopefully, the film’s divisive reception won’t keep Marvel’s new class of directors from exploring their own creative visions. Eternals still ought to represent a “bold new step” for the MCU, one where different perspectives are allowed to shine.
Directed by Chloé Zhao, Eternals stars Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Don Lee, and Kit Harington. It is currently in theaters.