After a long wait, Eternals finally hit theaters last night, and it follows a race of immortal beings with superhuman powers who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years. Each Eternal has their own unique power, including Don Lee’s Gilgamesh. In a previous interview with Total Film, Lee explained, “Gilgamesh is immortal, has superhuman strength, and is considered the strongest of the Eternals. He has a unique one-punch knockout attack like a heavyweight boxer.” In addition to his super strength, Gilgamesh is also incredibly compassionate and looks after Angelina Jolie’s Thena. During a recent interview with ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis, Lee was asked if it was important to him that they showed Gilgamesh’s kind side.
“Well, this will, that is one of his character [traits] that actually Chloe wanted… Wanted him [to] look like a nice guy in normal life. But when he faces against Deviants, he becomes a real warrior or fighter. That’s what Chloe wanted. And then I thought it was a very good idea for a built up character, like a unique character of Gilgamesh. Yeah.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
During the chat, Lee was also asked about the mask and helmet Gilgamesh wears in the comics and whether there was a discussion of including it in the film. “No, no. Actually, no,” Lee revealed.
Eternals, which was helmed by Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao, stars Gemma Chan as Sersi, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Salma Hayek as Ajak, and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman.
“This was the real reason I wanted to make the film. It was to be part of such a diverse family, and it really didn’t matter to me what the size of the role would be,” Jolie shared in an interview in September. “What surprised me the most about joining the MCU and working with [director] Chloé [Zhao] was how grounded she was. The first time the cast met, she was barefoot and sat on the floor. It was through this first meeting that we discovered that we perceived ourselves as geeks and misfits, so that connected us all and added another layer to the story of Eternals. It was our quirks and differences that became our superpowers. Chloé is the great equalizer – even though this was a massive, star-studded cast she was working with, she treated us with the same amount of attention and care.”
Eternals is scheduled to hit on theatres on November 5th.
