Eternals, by Chloé Zhao | Of diversity and humanity

Six months after the triumph of Nomadland at the Oscars, director Chloé Zhao is back in the news with the release ofEternals, the third feature film in Phase IV of the Marvel Universe. In a virtual press conference at which Press attended, the filmmaker and team members praised the diversity and humanity that characterize the superheroes of this new opus. Report.

André Duchesne
Press

When Chloe Zhao and Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, asked comedian Brian Tyree Henry to play the superhero Phastos in the film Eternals, the latter asked them how much weight he had to lose to defend the role.

“Chloe answered me: what are you talking about?” We want you exactly as you are! Henry recounts with a mixture of laughter and emotion. As a black man, what they told me was incomparable. Kid, looking at my superhero posters, I couldn’t find one to relate to. Now it is possible. ”

Henry, it will be understood, has a good frame. His character Phastos, the first openly gay hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is part of the constellation of diverse superheroes to be discovered in Eternals.

Like what times are changing at Marvel. We saw it for example with Black panther and, most recently, with Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings.

The frame

In this case, the very remarkable diversity of the Eternals, characters originally from Jack Kirby’s comic strip, can be explained in particular by the fact that they have discreetly inhabited the Earth for 7000 years. They go completely unnoticed by the humans they have to protect. But after a long period of calm, they must put on their costumes again with the appearance of the monstrous Deviants who, themselves, appear in the form of gigantic creatures between dragons and dinosaurs.

Before, during and after the fights, we discover that the Eternals also have a lot of humanity. They have qualities, faults and even some love affairs.

Take the example of Sersi (Gemma Chan). A teacher in London in her human “blanket”, she quickly stands out for her kindness.

“Sersi is not the best of brawlers, but she has a lot of empathy for the human race, with whom she has a great affinity,” Gemma Chan said during the press conference we attended. Even though she is 1000 years old, what she saw in history is a real passage [coming of age]. She learns to trust herself and gain experience based on the powers she possesses. ”

Angelina Jolie (Thena) also expressed her joy at being part of such a diverse cast. “A family that I wanted to be an integral part of,” she says. As for my character of Thena, she is visibly vulnerable and looking for a balance. ”

The interpreter of Lara Croft is not her first fantasy character and she was delighted to share a remark her children made to her. “They told me that Thena is the one who looks like me the most,” she says, all smiles.

We don’t want to say too much about the content but, another first already announced in the MCU universe, the actress Lauren Ridloff, seen in the excellent Sound of Metal, here embodies Makkari, the first deaf character in the series. She communicates with Druig (Barry Keoghan) through sign language.

“What brings her closer to Druig is the fact that they both express a lot of impatience and have a lot of power,” she said in sign language with simultaneous translation.

“These two sparkled everywhere as soon as we had them rehearse together in audition,” notes Chloé Zhao for her part.

Heroes to discover

The filmmaker has also indicated to be a big fan of the MCU universe. She had previously expressed an interest in directing a film in the series. She had been approached to turn Black widow, but preferred to skip his turn.

When she met with MCU executives to discussEternals, she arrived with a poem by William Blake. “A poem in which I expressed my intention to make a superhero film both as vast as the creation of the sun and as intimate as the whispers of lovers,” she said.

Filming took place in various locations in the UK and the Canary Islands, according to different media. Little interested in green screens, the filmmaker was very keen to work in the field in order to create the most immersive atmosphere possible.

According to Kevin Feige, the fact that the narrative makes several stops in history justified the creation of characters close to humans. “We cannot make the history of humanity without having heroes who resemble them,” he says.

Earlier in the meeting, he said: “In our post-Infinity saga [référence à la phase 3], our desire was to take a big leap forward. We wanted to tell people: you don’t know everything about the Universe. There are these 10 spectacular new heroes that you haven’t met yet. But they have always been there! ”

Eternals hits theaters November 5. The fourth feature film of phase IV, Spider Man: No Way Home by Jon Watts, is due on December 17th.