Overview
When Chloé Zhao adds her contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe later this year, the history-making Oscar-winner won't merely be leaping into a blockbuster franchise. With Eternals, the Nomadland filmmaker will unveil Marvel's next crew of superheroes — ancient and immortal alien beings who've been working in the shadows for thousands of years after arriving on earth via an eye-catching spaceship.
Led by Ajak (Salma Hayek, Like a Boss), these heroes are now forced to band together again to save the world from an evil threat. The catalyst: the events of a little film called Avengers: Endgame. So, it's standard MCU stuff, at least on paper. But with Zhao the helm, the film doesn't look or feel like your average Marvel movie — at least based on the very brief sneak peek at the flick a few weeks back, as well as the movie's just-dropped first trailer.
Also battling it against an enemy called The Deviants: Ikaris (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones), Sersi (Gemma Chan, Captain Marvel), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani, Stuber), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff, Sound of Metal), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong), Sprite (Lia McHugh, Songbird), Gilgamesh (Don Lee, Ashfall), Druig (Barry Keoghan, Calm with Horses) and Thena (Angelina Jolie, Those Who Wish Me Dead). One GoT star is never enough for any movie, so Kit Harington also features, presumably knowing little.
Ajak and her pals might've spent much of their past trying to blend in — "throughout the years, we have never interfered," she notes in the trailer's voiceover — but when they're not disguising themselves as humans, they certainly don superhero outfits and unleash quite the array of superpowers.
Eternals is one of four MCU movies set to drop in 2021, alongside Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the latest Spider-Man flick. It's also Zhao's first feature after the vastly different film that's been winning her so much praise this year, as well as her first leap into the blockbuster realm. And, the filmmaker's visual sensibilities definitely shine through so far — even though she's working on a far bigger scale than seen in her first three movies.
Check out the trailer below:
Eternals opens in cinemas Down Under on November 4.