Eternals, the latest film from Marvel, is shrouded in mystery. The Chloé Zhao-directed origin tale, defined by producer Nate Moore as “a massive, cosmic, insane film set on Earth for nearly 7,000 years,” will bring viewers to Marvel’s largest group of superheroes out there when it hits cinemas.
Marvel was aware of the situation between Zhao’s realistic style of cinematography and the intergalactic brawls of their cinematic wheelhouse from the time it was revealed that Zhao would oversee Eternals in 2018. With a star-studded ensemble that included Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, and Salma Hayek, Zhao wanted every Eternal to have their own personality. Below are 22 interesting facts and stories behind the camera of the production of The Eternals.
#1 Kaz and Ryan’s initial discussion with Marvel was all about “the original gods that walked the planet” and the “superhero mythology” that serves as the basis for the Eternals heroes.
“We had a meeting with an incredible conversation about the original gods that roamed the earth and superhero mythology,” Kaz said. “That is what opened the door for us to pitch and eventually win the job to write Eternals.”
#2 Kaz recalls working out in a “windowless room in Marvel with just enormous concepts” with producer Nate Moore while they began scripting Eternals. They began by researching Jack Kirby’s classic Eternals’ comics, Jim Krueger’s Earth X comics, and other works by Jack Kirby.
He continued, saying, “It really was just Nate Moore — who was producing a little movie called Black Panther at the time — Ryan, and I. It was the three of us just in a room for a lot of this process, researching, and throwing out big ideas.”
#3 Before a director discussion for Eternals started, Kaz & Ryan developed “nine versions of a 30-page framework and 2 revisions of the film.”.
We watched a lot of different filmmakers’ work, and then when Chloé Zhao became part of the conversation, it was a pretty obvious moment,” Kaz said. “At the time, Chloé had made two very small movies and was just in the process of talking about making and shooting Nomadland. With Eternals, we all knew we wanted to make something epic, something different, something challenging, and something diverse.”
#4 Kaz, Ryan, and Chloé Zhao had “excellent connection” from the beginning and spent considerable time joking with each other while developing the movie.
“We had really good chemistry from the beginning,” Ryan said. “Every time after an eight-hour-long story session, my cheeks would be hurting because we had so many laughs and so many good jokes. It was a really special time, in terms of the process of this movie and for our careers.
#5 Production of Eternals occurred around the launch of Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame, therefore Kaz, Ryan, and Chloé were to be spoiled on the major storylines of those great films.
You’re sitting in the Marvel headquarters and you’re hearing, ‘Yeah, Infinity War and Endgame are movies where, like, half the universe is gonna disappear,'” Kaz recalled. “They had to spoil these movies for us because we were literally writing a sequel to them. They hadn’t come out yet. So, it was a great time to be at Marvel because those two Avengers movies created an environment for risk-taking.”
#6 Many of the roles, such as Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari, were created with certain actors in thought.
Kaz said, “We knew the face and the actor it should be, and Marvel and the wonderful casting director Sarah Halley Finn were able to pick up the phone and see what they could do.”
#7 Kumail Nanjiani has always been Kaz and Ryan’s favourite actor to portray Kingo.
“What’s wild about working with Marvel is that these dream castings can become a reality,” Ryan said. “Every time we write, I really like to have a cast in my head. I’m a fan of movies, so it just helps me to see the character if I cast an actor in my head. When we were writing Kingo, we were like, ‘This has to be Kumail. There’s nobody else.”
#8 Then they realized right away that we needed to try to cast Salma Hayek as Ajak.
“We knew it had to be Salma,” Ryan said. So, within weeks of us bringing Kumail and Salma up, Marvel said, ‘Kumail and Salma are in.'” Kaz continued, saying, “In the comics, Ajak is this sort of angry, sad, dictator-like king. The only person who had the royal power for it was Salma Hayek. We raised our hands on that one, and a few weeks later, there was Salma Hayek.”
#9 Angelina Jolie contacted Marvel & showed interest in appearing in Eternals, and producer Nate Moore asked Kaz and Ryan if there had been a character for the actress
Kaz recalled hearing about Angelina wanting to join, saying, “We were sitting in Marvel’s windowless writing office, and Nate comes in and is like, ‘Hey, so, Angelina just called, and she’s interested in being in the movie.’ We were like, ‘Who’s Angelina?’ and he said, ‘Angelina Jolie.’ Like, it never crossed our minds that such a big star could be in a movie we were writing. So, we told Nate there was Thena, which is an amazing role for her, Nate told Angelina, and two weeks later, she was in the movie.”
#10 Druig and Makkari’s romance wasn’t originally a large element of Eternals, but when Chloé noticed Lauren Ridloff & Barry Keoghan’s connection, she wanted to put it.
I think Makkari and Druig stans are one of the biggest fanbases that come out of the movie,” Kaz said. “I’m rooting for them to get together now. They have charisma and chemistry. Druig was a much more surly character, and then how he acts around Makkari was something that naturally came about. The nuzzling on the beach was just a moment where you’re like, ‘Yes, I want more of it.’ Lauren and Barry performed themselves into a larger role with their characters. All of the actors are great, but Barry and Lauren had such magic. They are very talented.”
#11 Druig has been one of Kaz’s favorite characters since he’s not only broody, but whenever he does anything hilarious that makes the viewer chuckle, it simply shows how deep a character he is.
“Druig is one of my favourite characters in the movie because he’s so tortured, and it makes when he’s funny and likable even more enjoyable to watch,” Kaz explained. “Druig’s conflict is that he’s essentially a god who is watching his children die and being told he can’t do anything about it. Like, that would totally put you in a dark place, but it also turns him into a cool, angry daddy. I hope people find themselves just into Druig.”
#12 Kaz and Ryan created “13 or 14 drafts” of Eternals over a year, so there are many places they intended to visit but didn’t make the final cut.
“There was a whole sequence where we went to Ancient Greece and got to hang out with Aristotle,” Kaz said. “There was even a sequence in Ancient China once upon a time.”
#13 While it did not make it into the completed film, filmmakers did record an additional India storyline in 400 AD under the Gupta Empire that elaborated on Kingo’s backstory.
“It actually got shot, so RIP to that amazing, beautiful scene,” Kaz joked. There’s just a longer movie out there somewhere, and maybe it’ll find its way to Disney+ in the special features, who knows.” Ryan added, “The sequence set up the contrast between Kingo in the past and the present a little bit more strongly. I miss that scene.”
#14 Eternals was intended from the first day to be a film regarding “found family” and also how viewers may recognize ourselves in one of the ten new characters.
Kaz said, “It’s a circus family of these odd couples and these weird pairings, and there are jealousies and there are rivalries, like all families. That’s what the movie was about from the beginning; it was about this chosen-found family. Also, the idea of do you choose that family over your responsibilities as a soldier, as a hero, as an immortal space alien? You know, what do you serve? The family you love or the duty and the job that you were chosen for?”
#15 Kaz and Ryan’s objective with Eternals has always been to “reflect the world as it honestly is” and to highlight diversity and LGBTQ representation.
“I’m half Japanese and half French. I was raised by two women in the Bay Area. It was just very normal to me,” Kaz explained. “That was a big part of what we wanted to reflect, and I think we really did reflect in the movie. It’s not exceptional and out of the norm to be a Black superhero; that’s just what the world looks like. We are really, really proud of the way the film represents so many cultures and so many people because the movie is about Earth and humanity.”
#16 The creators intended Phastos’ romance and LGBTQ depiction to be “very realistic and also really authentic.”
Kaz said, “Only someone like Chloé could capture the nuance and the humanity that we wanted to get across with Phastos. We’re really proud to have the LGBTQ representation in the movie. It was a big part of who we are as locals from the Bay Area and just growing up there. In terms of all the characters, it was about celebrating how the things that make us weird and different really are the things that make us special.”
#17 It was necessary to have humorous elements in Eternals because also enabled the sorrowful situations to “be sadder, and it makes the laughs funnier.”
“Variety is the spice of life,” Ryan explained. “You need to give people the whole human experience and the whole spectrum of emotions. I’m always looking for chances to inject a little bit of comedy because it just makes everything more full and richer.”
#18 Elements of Eternals were influenced by films and television series such as The English Patient, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, The Godfather: Part II, Apocalypse Now, Game of Thrones, and others.
Kaz explained, “We looked at The English Patient, which is one of my favorite books and one of my favorite movies of all time. That was a huge reference point for Ryan and I. 2001, obviously, was being pulled from. We even looked at The Matrix. Godfather II as well. We looked at the classics that worked. There was no exact roadmap for how to make Eternals, which was a challenge and a gift. You try to find references for specific moments.”
#19 During the production of Eternals, the post-credits scenes “changed a lot.”.
“It had a lot to do with how the script was changing,” Ryan explained. “They are about setting up the future, but also paying off what we’ve just seen.”
#20 There have been “six or seven sequences” considered for the post-credits’ scenes. In fact, Kang the Conqueror was thought about before he made his Loki appearance.
Kang has already been introduced in the multiverse, but we were playing around with iterations of Kang and even, like, Galactus,” Kaz said.
#21 Eros, portrayed by Harry Styles, made his Eternals appearance was a “really early idea,” and he’s always been a figure Kaz and Ryan knew they needed to include in this film.
“Eros was clearly the best way to set up the launchpad to have us go out into the cosmos, basically,” Ryan began.
“Eros was someone we really, really loved. When we were originally choosing which Eternals to choose for the movie, we were really attracted to him, but we knew he wasn’t exactly the right fit for this group. He didn’t have a place to totally fit in, especially when you have Ikaris and Sersi already. So, we put him in our back pocket to see if we could use him later. Then, when we got to the post-credits sequence, it was the perfect place to plug him in.”
#22 Finally, the post-credits sequences were eventually always about moving forward to the MCU’s potential, that is how Eros, Dane, or even Blade got selected.
Kaz said, “What it really comes down to is what does this movie require, where is it going, and knowing what everyone is doing over with Blade, Loki, and Doctor Strange 2, and just trying to play in harmony with that. We had a lot of fun with those sequences. There are a lot that didn’t make it, but these two are right for this movie, for sure.”
