As grand as the cast of Marvel Studios’Eternalsis, director Chloé Zhao has revealed that original plans would have involved a few additional faces.
The currentEternalslineup includes Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena,Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Ma Dong-seok as Gilgamesh, and Lia McHugh as Sprite. This impressive cast is joined by Kit Harington, who will play Dane Whitman, one of the few non-immortal members of the cast.
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In a recent discussion ofEternalswith Fandom, Zhao revealed that during some of her initial conversations with Marvel about the film, there were originally 12 characters. “There were 12 characters when I first read it; 12 Eternals,” Zhao said. “We had to let go of two along the way.“Eternalsdoes still offer a lot of fresh faces throughout the film with its 10 Eternals and its non-immortal characterslike Harington’s Dane Whitman. Zhao went on to explain the decision to introduce 10 of the Eternals in the film. “Some characters don’t need the most screen time, it’s about what they do with the screen time,” Zhao said. “They have to be memorable. And when we looked at these 10 unique individuals, we thought about how they represent 10 aspects of human nature.”
Cutting two Eternals from the film allowed Zhao to explore the 10 that remained a bit more. As an origin film,Eternalsmust establish all its charactersin a purposeful manner that will allow the audience to connect with them. For Zhao, it was important that even if these 10 Eternals didn’t have the same amount of screen time, that all the characters carry the same amount of weight. With each Eternal meant to represent an aspect of human nature, it’s important to allow them to carry equal weight to grant them all a fair opportunity to resonate with the audience. Casting can go a long way in aiding the character’s connection with an audience, and McHugh says that she thinks that was something Zhao had in mind throughout the casting process. “I think Chloé chose a lot of us because we are so similar to our characters,” McHugh said.
Zhao revealed that throughout the creation ofEternals, she was encouraged to create a movie that could stand on its own. Followingthe events ofAvengers: Infinity WarandEndgame, Marvel needed a reset. “As they go into a new phase, sometimes it’s important to look into the past and to figure out what the origin is, and then that can maybe inform us moving forward,” Zhao said.
As a film that concentrates heavily on the relationships between its characters, cutting the cast down works inEternals’favor. While there are no clear plans to create anysequels forEternals, that doesn’t rule out any appearances for the heroes in the future. With Whitman expected to play a crucial role in future MCU projects and the potential for the Eternals to weave into the main MCU storyline, the two Eternals can’t be counted out for certain.
Eternalsreleases in theaters on June 06, 2025.
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