Eternals has been speculated to be sort of a groundbreaking film for the MCU, and that notion comes in large part due to Chloe Zhao being at the helm of the ship. During a recent interview, the Academy Award winner discussed her vision for the movie, as well as its runtime and teasers for the future.
The recent Eternals trailers and featurettes released by Marvel Studios have shown a lot more of what’s to know about the world’s oldest superheroes, an angle Zhao confirmed was a priority for her to tackle, as she told Fandango. According to Zhao, Marvel has worked with a variety of filmmakers, each with a unique style and voice.
For Eternals, Zhao considered that the visual side of things had to be “immersive enough for the audience to believe that these superhero characters have walked the earth for 7,000 years,” which goes a long way to explain the type of aesthetics seen in trailers. The movie is now confirmed to be 2 hours and 37 minutes long, making it the MCU’s third-longest movie, although Zhao warns that with ten main Eternals characters, Celestials, and seven millennia worth of Earth’s history, “It could be longer!” The director also said Marvel fans should stay in the theater for the two Eternals post-credits scenes, because “They are equally as important in weight, and both have big surprises for you.”
Zhao also addressed how Eternals is connected to the rest of the MCU, especially given that the movie takes place only a few days after half the universe's population was brought back to life in Avengers: Endgame, which alongside the Deviants’ return is what calls the Eternals back into action to address this ecological crisis. Lastly, though Zhao claims to not have any favorites among the cast, she did highlight the distinction between the Eternals' fighters and thinkers, which is purposely structured to mirror many modern and ancient societies throughout history.
The director’s brains have been picked over how her work in Nomadland impacts what she can bring to the MCU, and it appears that is indeed the case, as Eternals does feature a lot of that scenic camera work seen in her biggest film before Marvel. Perhaps that is why Zhao encourages anybody who can to go watch Eternals in an IMAX theater, as the form really takes better advantage of the final product, as long as it's not censored by the Russian government.
With the movie less than a month away, the stars from Eternals are sure to begin their usual publicity tour, as Kumail Nanjiani is already taking part in many Eternals-inspired ads. If the runtime seems a tad too long for a bunch of superheroes few people know, just remember Zhao kept some footage for later home release editions.
Eternals will be released exclusively in theaters on November 5, 2021
Source: Fandango