Eternals Director Chloe Zhao Teases Another Oscar Winner Could Join the Marvel Universe

Marvel's Eternals director Chloé Zhao is making her big Marvel Cinematic Universe debut fresh off an Oscar win for her film Nomadland. However, as Zhao tells it, she may not be the only Oscar-winner amongst Marvel Studios' new crop of stars! In a new interview, Chloe Zhao was asked point-blank if her Nomadland star and collaborator (and four-time Oscar winner) Frances McDormand would ever come play in the MCU. Well, Zhao gave a pretty definitive response to that inquiry, by not only saying that McDormand would join the MCU, but that "I think she wants to." 

In her larger response to Yahoo Entertainment, Chloé Zhao says that when it comes to Frances McDormand in the MCU: "I think she wants to. I think she's open to it, yeah! I think she's open to it - I think she would want to do something really fun. I think she would want to do something unexpected. Because that's Fran. She's always challenging herself." 

One look at the work of Frances McDormand and you know that Zhao is totally correct. The lady has range that stretches all the way from one of her first roles in the Coen Bros.' noir thriller Blood Simple to the tour de force meditative (largely solo) performance she gave Zhao in Nomadland, which helped drive the film to Oscars glory. That said, McDormand is no stranger to blockbuster franchise work, either: she's indeed popped up for truly unexpected roles in films like the Æon Flux anime adaptation; Transformers: Dark of the Moon, or animated movies like The Good Dinosaur and Madagascar 3. Movies like Fargo and Hail, Caesar! also show that McDormand has just as much comedic character range as she does dramatic. She can pretty much do anything... 

Marvel Studios has already set a good precedent for getting top-tier Oscar-winning actresses into their fold. Cate Blanchett is now a fan-favorite after she slayed (literally and figuratively) as a villain in Thor: Ragnarok;  while Chloé Zhao has Angelina Jolie lighting up the screen (literally and figuratively) in Eternals. Frances McDormand would be a great get for the franchise - and a great treat for fans. Phase 4 of the MCU has opened so many new doors that could offer opportunity for McDormand - from the expanding universe of god-like cosmic beings in Eternals, or Thor: Love & Thunder; the unfolding Marvel Multiverse; or highly-anticipated projects like the new Fantastic Four or X-Men franchises. Vampire queen McDormand in Blade? Why not? How about an easy re-uniting between McDormand and Zhao for an Eternals sequel? 

Any way this goes: fans win! 

Eternals is in theaters on November 5th