Warning - This article contains spoilers from Eternals .
Chloé Zhao’s cosmic epic Eternals has now hit theaters worldwide, and with it comes over a dozen new characters for audiences to get to know. That’s a lot of leg work for one film to do.
Stories can fail just trying to juggle a handful of characters in the spotlight, so having so many surely wasn’t an easy task. It’s part of what makes Infinity War and Endgame so miraculous—neither ever buckled under the weight of their roster.
In this case, these Eternals and their associated characters are all fresh to fans. So, on top of making a coherent cast, the writers also had to make sure each new face had a place in the story that worked for both them and the wider narrative.
So out of this new family of superheroes, who was the hardest to get right? Well, according to the film’s screenplay writers, the answer is Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari.
Eternals' Makkari Was Toughest Hero to Write
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, Eternals screenplay writers Ryan and Kaz Firpo revealed which Eternal was the hardest to get right—both in character and with their place in the story.
According to writer Ryan, “Makkari was[the most] difficult because she made the choice… [to] just disconnect herself,” and in doing so was forced into far less screentime than the other Eternals:
“I would say, probably Makkari. I think Makkari was difficult because she had made the choice to essentially go and just hole up in the ship, and just disconnect herself from everything. So she was the least involved character in the present-day storyline because that was her choice that she made… [so she was] a difficult character to just make an active part of the story… We don’t get as much time to get into her psyche and understand where she’s coming from…”
Despite having less screentime, Lauren Ridloff still brought her all and completely killed the part. One of the best little bits of her character on screen was her chemistry with Barry Keoghan’s Druig, something that apparent “wasn’t… on the page:”
“Lauren [Ridloff] just did an amazing job bringing Makkari to life. And in particular, the chemistry that she had with Barry, with Druig, that was something that wasn’t really on the page, and just came out of Barry and Lauren having a great dynamic together, and Chloé being such a great director to recognize that and to bring that out in the final movie.”
Makkari Makes Her Mark
Makkari was easily one of the more interesting characters in the film, and a lot of it is attributed to what Ridloff brought to the role. As Ryan Firpo pointed out, she had far less screentime than the others; yet despite that, she remains one of the most memorable aspects of the film.
With her being among the three Eternals left on the Domo, it would seem that her role will be getting quite the upgrade next time fans see her. With the former lead, Sersi, now being a Celestial prisoner, it'll be up to the speedster, mind-controller, and warrior to get them out—and, of course, the romanticizing Eros.
Fans have always wanted a speedster as part of the continuous MCU, especially after Quicksilver's untimely death in Avengers: Age of Ultron, so it would be wonderful to see Lauren Ridloff play her role as often as she possibly can. If only Pietro was alive and the two of them could meet; maybe in another timeline.
Eternals is now playing in theaters worldwide.
