Eternals director Chloé Zhao confirms in an interview that she also wrote the film's screenplay, dismissing rumors that this would be her first time directing without a writing credit. Her star-studded MCU film is set to premiere in the US in November 2021 after having been moved twice due to COVID-19 disrupting Marvel's release schedule.

Based around a race of humanoid beings created by comics legend Jack Kirby in the 1970s, Eternals will feature characters that the average Marvel fan might not be familiar with, but they will certainly recognize the actors playing them. Angelina Jolie headlines alongside Richard Madden (Game of Thrones), Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians), Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones), Bryan Tyree Henry (Atlanta), Salma Hayek, and a now-ripped Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley). The movie has already made headlines for what it means for on-screen representation, introducing MCU's first South Asian, deaf, and LGBTQ superheroes and making Zhao the studio's first woman of color to sit in the director's chair.

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While the early credits have listed cousins Kaz and Ryan Firpo as the movie's screenwriters, Zhao puts to rest any concerns about her creative control over Eternals by confirming the final draft was hers. She spoke with journalist Margaret Gardiner about the importance of writing to her filmmaking process:

I am the writer on Eternals, the credits just aren't updated yet, you know, so I still don't know what it would be like if I don't write the film, that I'm not at least a huge part of the writing process. So yeah, I haven't experienced that in my career, I'm scared of that, if it does happen one day. So, you see, in the writing process, that's sort of where I bring in my sensibility, that's a huge part of it. And creating situations that will allow certain kind of cinematic language to come in... that is something that I've learned from my last three films. I think what Marvel has been incredible, that Kevin [Feige] and Nate [Moore] and the whole team, they knew from the moment I pitched the film I really wanted to, you know, the scope and the scale, 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.

Chloe Zhao Eternals MCU

Zhao's contentment with her level of involvement should be music to the ears of Marvel fans, since the Chinese filmmaker enters 2021 with quite the pedigree. After her first two features premiered at Sundance and Cannes, respectively, her latest, Nomadland, won the Golden Lion at 2020's Venice Film Festival and looks to be a strong contender for multiple Academy Awards this April. Marvel has worked with acclaimed indie directors before, but Zhao could very well attend the Eternals premiere with the Oscar for Best Director in her pocket, and many fans will surely be excited to see what she can do with the kind of budget Marvel Studios provides.

On the other hand, Zhao's previous work has been drastically different from your average superhero blockbuster, and she is making the jump to working with a large cast of established names. Her ability to handle a blockbuster of this magnitude remains unproven, and some Marvel fans might be wary of what a Chloé Zhao-MCU movie might look like. Here's hoping she follows in the footsteps of Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler and knocks Eternals out of the park.

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Source: Margaret Gardiner

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