Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” cast & creatives think their film is bearing a new MCU standard

Following the world premiere of their new film earlier this week, the cast and creatives of Marvel Studios’ next film “Eternals” gathered virtually for the global press conference. And if that press setup wasn’t telling of the new that is coming, the film certainly will.

“It’s all part of the post-Infinity Saga,” said Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. “We knew we needed to take a bold, new step. In this case, it’s making you question if you really knew the MCU as you’ve seen it these past 10+ years.”

And without giving away any of the film, Feige’s colleagues who star in the film began to then try and describe what that actually meant.

Director and Academy Award-winner Chloe Zhao said, “When I pitched the film to Kevin, I gave him a macro photo of sand and read a poem by William Blake to him essentially saying that you can see the cosmos in the smallest of things.”

Zhao went on to say that it’s that contrast and commonality in all things big and small that she wanted to play with thematically throughout the film, including “the grandness of a kiss between two lovers.”

One of the lovers in the film is a character played by Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians). She plays one of the Eternals, an ensemble of forever-humans that were created to protect Earth on a cosmic level. Yet her character knows love between another Eternal and love in different ways.

“Sersi is a superhero, but her powers are not obvious,” Chan said. “She has empathy.”

Empathy and acceptance are traits that both Selma Hayek and Brian Tyree Henry’s Eternal characters also long for, on and off the screen.

When speaking about their casting in the film, they both immediately were floored when Zhao tapped into who they were, not what they could be. “When you’re in the middle of your 50s and someone sees you as you (in my case, Mexican) and says I can be a superhero, it means a lot,” Hayek said. Added Henry, “I didn’t have to lose any weight to be hero! I’m just a big Black man and can be super.”

As for the new in the actual story, you’ll have to wait until you see the film or learn more from out spoiler-free review soon!

Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” comes to theaters on November 5, 2021.