‘Eternals’ Director Chloé Zhao Addresses Future of MCU’s Most Divisive Franchise

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Chloé Zhao, who directed the Marvel film Eternals, recently discussed what’s next for these unique heroes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Released in 2021 with a famous cast, Eternals aimed to introduce lesser-known characters to a wider audience, similar to how Guardians of the Galaxy was launched. However, the film received mixed reactions; while general audiences gave it a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics weren’t as impressed, giving it a score of only 47% – a first for a Marvel movie.

The movie Eternals was a large-scale project, covering thousands of years and featuring immortal beings who influenced historical civilizations. Despite a cast including stars like Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kit Harington, it didn’t perform as well as Marvel expected at the box office, earning $402 million globally. Since then, the Eternals haven’t appeared much in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but director Chloé Zhao hopes to revisit them. In an interview with Screen Rant, Zhao expressed her pride in the film and stated she’d be excited to bring the characters back.

That sounds great! You’re absolutely right, and you get the core idea. It’s about the gods debating what humanity is like, and ultimately deciding our fate – as Arishem put it, he’d return to judge us. Those quick scenes we saw were meant to show us how the gods view us, so we could reflect on our actions and consider if we’re living up to our potential as part of the universe. Are we treating each other well? Are we truly understanding ourselves?

These kinds of stories have always existed, and I see these movies as a continuation of that tradition. I’d be thrilled to revisit these characters and use them to spark conversations about our world. I’m very pleased with how they turned out.

As a fan, I was really hoping we’d see the Eternals continue in the MCU, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening right now, which is a shame. The cast is so talented, and I think many of them could really fit into other Marvel stories. Still, that post-credits scene left me wanting more! Harry Styles as Eros was awesome, and it was exciting to hear Mahershala Ali as Blade and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman – it felt like they were setting up something big that unfortunately, we never got to see.

The MCU Has Largely Ignored ‘Eternals’


Marvel Studios

The movie Eternals showed a massive event – a celestial being named Tiamut emerging from the Earth, drastically altering the planet. Surprisingly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe mostly overlooked this. She-Hulk briefly mentioned Tiamut in a news report about a giant ocean statue. It wasn’t until Captain America: Brave New World that Tiamut became important to the overall story, and was used to explain the origin of adamantium. The movie also included a scene of Captain America flying around Tiamut, finally connecting the events of Eternals to the wider MCU.

While we’ve seen small references to the Eternals – like Kingo appearing in Marvel’s What If…? and a quick glimpse of Ikaris in Marvel Zombies – the main cast hasn’t been part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Avengers: Doomsday coming next year and promising the return of familiar faces like the X-Men and Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, there’s a possibility the Eternals could reappear. Another potential opportunity could come with Avengers: Secret Wars, which might allow director Chloé Zhao to continue their story, but Marvel hasn’t confirmed any appearances yet.

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2025-11-24 20:02