As Marvel’s 2021 feature Eternals approaches its fifth anniversary, director Chloé Zhao is standing by her contribution to the franchise. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival in September 2026, the filmmaker reflected on her time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, emphasizing that she still holds a deep affection for superhero cinema despite the polarized reception her film received from critics and audiences upon release.
The Architecture of Myth and Manga Influences
Fresh off her Oscar win for Nomadland, Zhao brought a distinct directorial vision to the MCU, prioritizing real sets and a more thoughtful vibe over standard franchise formulas. Looking back on the production, Zhao called making the film “a dream come true” during her appearance at the Venice Film Festival.
Zhao drew a direct parallel between Western comic book traditions—such as those published by the industry’s “Big Two”—and Japanese manga. Having grown up wanting to be a mangaka, but couldn’t draw, Zhao views these serialized mediums as vital storytelling frameworks. She explained that storytelling serves to create “containers for people … to try to process what they need to process,” adding that “archetypes are such a great way to do it—and we see them in myths—because it’s something we all share.”
Rather than distancing herself from blockbuster IP, Zhao pushed back against dismissing commercial mediums as lesser art forms. “I do feel it’s important not to write off stories because we don’t consider them high art,” she noted. Furthermore, she rejected simplistic critical binaries that pit her intimate indie dramas against her studio tentpole, jokingly pointing out that both Nomadland and Eternals fundamentally deal with “people in nature who have complicated relationships with them.”
Revisiting the MCU’s Most Polarizing Experiment
While Eternals remains a debated entry in the Marvel canon, its unique structural choices continue to set it apart from typical studio output. As detailed in reviews from Den of Geek, the film largely bypassed constant cross-franchise crossovers, making only brief, passing references to major events like Thanos, the Blip, and the Avengers to construct a relatively self-contained pocket universe.
The film traded high-frequency quips for a sweeping, relationship melodrama tone, incorporating distinct creative choices like a modest love scene between two unclothed adults and the MCU’s first gay kiss. The ensemble cast featured Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani in a dramatic pivot, and Barry Keoghan as the mind-controlling Druig. Meanwhile, Don Lee made history as the first Korean superhero in a Hollywood motion picture, portraying the fiercely loyal Gilgamesh alongside Angelina Jolie as Thena.
Visually, the production leaned heavily into the geometric designs established by Kirby. Reviewers noted that while the hybrid approach of mixing arthouse aesthetics with traditional blockbuster infrastructure did not always hit the mark, it signaled that Marvel Studios was not content to rest on its already massive bed of laurels.
The Long-Term Impact on Franchise Filmmaking
As the industry looks back at experiments like Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and the television series WandaVision, Zhao’s perspective highlights a shifting consensus around blockbuster auteurism. The film’s legacy persists as a flawed one-off where a director attempted to inject classical myth-making and philosophical weight into a tightly controlled corporate pipeline.
Whether future installments will ever revisit the cosmic loose threads introduced in its post-credit sequences remains an open question for the canon.
