How Marvel's Kevin Feige Helped Eternals Fit Into the MCU and Balance Its Scope

By Richard Nebens Posted:
Kevin Feige, Eternals

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is gearing up for its biggest year yet in 2021, with ten unique properties coming to theaters and Disney+ . While many of these come as follow-ups for characters introduced during the Infinity Saga, three of them will center around heroes never seen in the MCU before.

One of the four big-screen movies will be Chloé Zhao’s Eternals , which will bring over a dozen characters from Marvel Comics to live-action for the very first time. This race of immortals has lived amongst the people of Earth for thousands of years, but they have never been explored in depth until their appearance in the MCU’s 26th movie.

Recently, Zhao delved into her time working with Marvel Studios thus far as she completes her first MCU movie.

NEWS

In a recent interview with Margaret Gardiner on YouTube , Eternals director Chloé Zhao discussed her experience working on the movie with Marvel CCO Kevin Feige and executive producer Nate Moore:

"I think that Marvel has been so incredible, that Kevin and Nate and the whole team, they knew from the moment I pitched the film, I really wanted to [have], you know, the scope and scale, and, at the same time, the intimacy. They knew I wanted both and they have been so incredible holding my hand through the entire process of allowing me to go as far as possible and as small as possible, and how that fit into the whole MCU. It’s been a pretty incredible process, you have to wait and see.

The full video can be seen below:

WHAT THIS MEANS

Chloé Zhao clearly has her sights set on making Eternals one of the MCU’s best movies, and it’s refreshing to see just how much Kevin Feige and his team have given her everything she needs to accomplish that goal.

Early rumors have described Eternals as having the potential to be not only a hit in the MCU , but also one of next year’s most influential movies. The MCU solo film has been part of some discussions to be an Oscar contender, and with Zhao’s previous work, that status doesn’t appear to be out of the question. The way Zhao describes the balance of the film's grand scale meshed with intimacy should have MCU fans eager to see how deep this movie goes both emotionally and in terms of its action.

This is a film that will traverse the entire course of human history over multiple millennia led by a cast of Hollywood's top names, including Richard Madden as Ikaris , Salma Hayek as Ajak , and Angelina Jolie as Thena . No specific plot details have been revealed yet, but considering the talent the movie boasts both in front of the camera and behind it, expectations are sky-high for this release.

Eternals will release in theaters on November 5, 2021.

- About The Author: Richard Nebens
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.