Eternals director Chloe Zhao anticipated the “divided reception” to the MCU. In an interview with Empire Magazine, the director talked about her approach to the Marvel Studios universe. Originally, Eternals was supposed to come out close to Avengers: Endgame. When those plans changed because of the pandemic, certain other elements took on a different meaning. She said that the movie is about “having an existential crisis.” Zhao completely gets why some fans would be completely turned off by that. However, a lot of viewers felt like they could relate to the story of the Eternals, so there’s some good and some bad. Check out what she had to say down below.
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“Eternals was planned to be released soon after Endgame, and not at a time when everyone is having an existential crisis,” Zhao explained. “The film itself is about existential crisis, both for humanity and God. So I think we definitely felt it was coming.”
“I think the need for consensus is a hindrance for any authentic creative process,” she said elsewhere in the interview. “Just like it’s a hindrance for living an authentic life as a person. I have been on the receiving end of somewhat consensus, and divisiveness about my work. Neither of them has any real influence on me as an artist, because every time I’m lucky enough to create, I learn from the process. From what I’ve succeeded [at], and what I’ve failed [at]. But that learning process is a very intimate affair. Anything beyond that, for me, it’s just a part of the ecosystem that exists because of the nature of the industry we’re in. Like a flower or a rock, I acknowledge and appreciate their presence. But that’s as far as it goes.”
Comicbook.com’s Jamie Jirak enjoyed her time in Zhao’s world. “Eternals will likely be one of the more divisive films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” she said. “The strong characters and visuals will be enough for some fans to consider it one of the best of the franchise while others will find its messy plot and extended runtime a hard pill to swallow. No matter how you feel about Eternals, there’s no denying Phase Four is off to an exciting start.”
Did you like Eternals? Feel like the film got a bad wrap? Let us know down in the comments!
