AN ETERNAL FEMALE

SFX DELVES INTO THE MAKING OF CHLOÉ ZHAO’S MUCH-HYPED MCU DEBUT ETERNALS…

- ADAM TANSWELL

AFTER A DROUGHT OF MORE THAN A year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been ramping up the excitement in 2021 – and it’s about to kick into hyperdrive with Chloé Zhao’s Eternals. Jack Kirby’s 1970s comic series serves as the inspiration for the ambitious cinematic adventure, which boasts an A-list cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek and Kit Harington, but it’s director Zhao – fresh from her Academy Award wins for Nomadland – that’s responsible for much of the hype.

“Chloé is an extraordinary director,” Salma Hayek tells SFX. “It’s hard to think that she would do a movie like Nomadland and then follow it up with something as big as this. Eternals is very intimate, which is a very different feeling for a Marvel movie. I love the way she manages to navigate the Marvel universe from this really intimate perspective. There are all these layers, too. There’s a very unique sensibility to it.”

Hayek’s character is described as a wise and spiritual leader of the Eternals, the immortal alien race at the heart of the movie. “Ajak is the leader of this group of 10 Eternals who come to Earth with a mission,” confirms the actress. “And I had a very particular proposition for how I wanted to play the role, which I discussed with Chloé, and I was so happy that she loved my idea. I didn’t want to play the character like the leaders you see in the other movies; not just Marvel movies, but all movies. I wanted to be strong, but not militant. I said to Chloé, ‘What if I guide them like a mother? What if I have a really strong sense of family and I guide them like you would guide your own children?’