Kevin Feige and his henchmen at Marvel Studios have worked with well-known directors, many of whom come from indie films, or minor jobs. It has not been something exclusive (there are references like Kenneth Branagh, Joss Whedon and Taika Waititi), but it is a habit that Marvel has continued to do very often. That’s the case with last week’s Oscar-winning filmmaker for Best Direction, Chloé Zhao, who is in charge of directing “The Eternals,” a lengthy mythological tale based on some of Jack Kirby’s most ambitious works.
The studio has put one of its projects on famous filmmakers on more than one occasion.
Kevin Feige, who has overseen the MCU since its inception and who plays a key role in finding talent to get behind the camera, has had nothing but high praise for Zhao throughout the entire process on ‘The Eternals.’ Speaking to industry trades after her Oscar win, Feige said the filmmaker fits the profile of the type of filmmaker Marvel wants to have.
“These are the type of filmmakers we want to work with, regardless of the size of movies they’ve made before. Unique voices, with unique things to say. And in their case, which isn’t always a prerequisite, it was a great, the MCU as well as the comics and the genre. And it was clear that she meant it.
He said that in Zhao’s case personally, Nate Moore helped put together a list of possible directors for ‘Eternals’, and her speech was “absolutely spectacular.”
“From the beginning they knew how they wanted this movie to be made, and how they wanted it to be shot,” Zhao said during a recent interview. “There can’t be hundreds of people standing there. So they adapted a lot to the way I wanted to work. I’m still surrounded by 25 people. They only have armies (at Marvel), and they know they needed to keep the military out.”
‘The Eternals’ introduces an exciting new team of superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame’, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to rally against humanity’s oldest enemy, the Deviants.
The film is scheduled for release in theaters on November 5.
