Eternals Star Angelina Jolie Wants to Play Thena Again, But Solo Movie Is Out of the Question

Marvel’s latest film, Eternals, is now in theaters and has introduced into the MCU a whole host of new characters, including Angelina Jolie’s Thena, one of the most powerful Eternals, a family of heroes whose history goes back to the earliest days of human civilization. The role is Jolie’s first as a superhero and while she’s open to returning to the role now that she’s a part of the MCU, the idea of a solo Thena movie isn’t something she’s willing to entertain. Jolie told Brazil’s CinePop (via Collider) that she doesn’t want to separate Thena from the overall Eternals family.

“I loved being part of the family, so I have no desire to separate from the family,” Jolie said. “But I would be happy to play her again and explore even more deeply the struggles that she has. I think it’s fun thinking of where they’ve been over the years. We’ve got thousands of years worth of material. We can take her anywhere. I think that’s fun and I like the idea that we can pop up somewhere, maybe in other Marvel movies.”

Interestingly, Jolie’s role as Thena was originally meant to be much smaller. Eternals producer Nate Moore previously explained that Jolie was initially set to have a cameo in the film as Thena, but as development went along, the role became much bigger.

“When we first talked to her, I think she thought, well, I know she thought we wanted her for a very, very small cameo,” Eternals producer Nate Moore said during a press set visit last January. “So she was sort of surprised at the size of the role, and really threw herself into Thena and creating a movement style for Thena and a fighting style for Thena that was unique.”

One thing Jolie would be open to, however, is directing an MCU film. During the red carpet premiere of Eternals, Jolie was asked if she would ever direct a movie within the franchise and she didn’t dismiss the notion.

“Maybe I’ll talk to Kevin [Feige] tonight, see if there’s a job for me,” Jolie told Variety.

In addition to Jolie, Eternals stars Gemma Chan as Sersi, 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. The film is directed by Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao.

Eternals is in theaters now.