Eternals director Chloé Zhao has shared more of her directing approach for the upcoming MCU film. This includes details on how Kumail Nanjiani helped her process during filming and why shooting in real locations offers opportunities that are not possible on a soundstage.
Primarily known for directing indie films, fans knew Zhao's unique style will translate to something truly breathtaking on-screen in Eternals. If early reviews are to be believed, Zhao's style is ever-present in the film, and she has now offered insight into how it all happened.
Speaking with The A.V. Club in a recent interview, Zhao revealed the creative process she brought to the set of Eternals, which included everything from letting Kumail Nanjiani (who plays Kingo), write his own jokes for the film to shooting on location, which offered a more grounded element to this ongoing universe. “It’s so important to make the audiences laugh, but I find it easier to make them cry than to make them laugh," Zhao shares. “I give Kumail a lot of props for helping me with that." Zhao further added that Nanjiani's character is a very complex one who still brings plenty of fun, as Kingo is "always a person who likes to make the situation comfortable, but if you think about him, he has very strong beliefs and he’s not afraid to stick by them. He just goes about it a bit differently than [Richard Madden’s] Ikaris.”
Although Zhao looks to add to Marvel's brand of lighter humor, her unique directing style is something that is very fresh and new to the MCU. With Eternals introducing an entirely new set of heroes to root for and having a runtime of 2 hours and 37 min, the film is pushing to be one of the MCU's most epic and grand films to date. In order to accomplish that, Zhao wanted to expand the film's scope by shooting on locations rather than on a soundstage (which Zhao believes would make it difficult for the wide-angle lens to linger on due to the edge of the frame), an aspect to many of these Marvel films that seem to be missing.
Knowing of her indie experience on films like the Oscar-winning Nomadland, it's no surprise that Zhao's desire to film on real locations stems from her knowledge that "to convince the audience that these immortal aliens had walked a planet for 7000 years, there’s got to be a level of realism and immersion involved in the visuals." Zhao further explained her creative choices to inject this sense of realism with real locations and how that can help the actors deliver more realistic portrayals. "Having a film that’s so CG heavy, the characters are constantly interacting with other things,” says Zhao. “Shooting at real locations actually helps... Visual effects supervisors love that because they allow the nature to inform what kind of elements they’re going to add to make it feel more seamless.” Star Kit Harington, who plays Dane Whitman in the film, agrees, recently sharing that the real sets felt like a very drastic departure from previous Marvel films yet super exciting and helpful to work on.
While there's no doubt that Eternals will deliver eye-popping visuals, with many critics claiming it to be the MCU's most visually stunning entry to date, the film is already receiving mixed reviews due to the jumbled storyline and the overuse of exposition. But in a universe that can be too formulaic at times, the divisiveness and Zhao's different perspectives may just be what the MCU needs. Eternals' star-studded ensemble also features Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Gemma Chan as Sersi, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, and Barry Keoghan as Druig.
Eternals is set for an exclusive theatrical release on November 5th, 2021.
Source: The A.V. Club