CHLOE ZHAO’S ETERNALS
Angelina Jole, Kit Harington, Salma Hayak +
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is on a roll in 2021. Both Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and The Legend of the Ten Rings managed to become box office successes in the middle of a global pandemic. Marvel intends to continue this momentum with the release of Chloe Zhao’s Eternals. Just like Shang-Chi, Eternals will introduce people to an unexplored corner of the MCU.
The film will follow the Eternals, an immortal race of aliens who must take on a rival race known as the Deviants. The trailers released so far indicate that Eternals will show the fallout of Avengers Endgame, where half of the world’s population returned to life. The cast for the film turned heads when it was initially announced.
The actors include Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Gemma Chan as Sersi, and Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, the first gay hero in the MCU. Other cast members include Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, the first deaf hero in the MCU. The film has many stars, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has called Gemma Chan’s Sersi the lead character.
A great cast is essential for a film, but a great director is even more critical. Feige gave Chloe Zhao the freedom to use her filmmaking style for Eternals. She gained attention last year for her award-winning film Nomadland which in turn helped build hype for Eternals. MCU fans are eagerly anticipating Eternals as it will be the 3rd MCU film this year. Hopefully, it does well so that more filmmakers like Zhao can try their hand at a Marvel movie.
