By Luca Newton
On Monday, we see the first teaser trailer for Marvel's Eternals, set for release in November of this year, promising a unique Marvel movie, and I cannot stop watching it..
Truth is, I have had my eye on Eternals, particularly recently, in fact. When it was first announced in 2019, following the reports of its existence, I had only interest in Eternals, by the Marvel Studios brand. However, I decided to look into the Eternals more recently, and found out a lot of wildly interesting aspects of the characters. The concept that there were these god-like beings created by giant cosmic beings, known as Celestials, that have lived on Earth, as their purpose is to protect Earth from deviant attacks, deviants being the evil variants of the Eternals. The idea that these characters have been protecting mankind from the beginning of mankind indirectly is so ambitiously intriguing.
As more time progressed, and Eternals was formally announced by Kevin Feige at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H, and then additionally shown a month later at D23, we got ourselves a front row seat, to one of the most..
Diverse And Star Studded Cast
Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Riddloff and Lia McHugh play the main Eternals, with Barry Keoghan playing Druig, a member who is separated from the rest by choice. Additionally, Kit Harrington himself playing Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. This cast is filled with big names and big talents. From huge star Angelina Jolie, to Game of Thrones stars Richard Madden and Kit Harrington, Marvel weren't kidding with this ensemble.
If you look at the cast though, you see women of varying ethnicities, including Asian and Latino. The first openly gay character being played by Brian Tyree Henry, a black actor. A young child playing a major hero role, and even a deaf actress playing a deaf character. It is overwhelmingly diverse, and I, for one, think that it's an incredible decision to have that kind of diversity. Many are prone to be against the idea that representation is a bad forced thing, for the "woke", but to me it just adds to this sense of culture that Eternals is clearly aiming for.
The teaser doesn't show off their individual character traits or personalities, but we do get to see a lot of them in action. Specifically, a lot of action for Angelina Jolie's Thena, and Gemma Chan's Sersi, who we see juggling both Richard Madden's Ikaris and Kit Harrington's Dane Whitman romantically. But from even short looks at some of the characters, such as Kingo (Kumail Ninjiani) doing a Bollywood number, or Makkari (Lauren Riddloff) reading an ancient book at the speed of light - I can feel we are gonna be in for a real treat. Furthermore, unlike a lot of people on Twitter, the after-title scene where Ikaris claims he could lead the Avengers, and everyone laughs, showcases a family-like situation. That kind of dynamic, with such an electric cast will almost certainly be special. If the Guardians have taught us anything, a team with family bond always ends up charming and loveable.
In addition, Eternals, doesn't just have a star studded cast, it also has..
Chloe Zhao's Gorgeous Vision And Huge Ambition
When it was first announced that Chloe Zhao would take the helm of Eternals, it literally meant nothing to me. I had never really seen her work, nor had I even heard of any work she may have been involved in anyway. However, in the past couple months, Chloe Zhao has certainly established herself as a very distinct director, an auteur, with real talent. Real ambition and passion. She recently took home the Academy Award for Best Director, on her film, Nomadland, which won Best Picture.
Personally, I wasn't the biggest fan of Nomadland, due to its style of storytelling being more slice-of-life. However, I respect the hell out of it. I adore the way it was directed and shot, I thought the film did so well at being grounded, with an incredible lead actress, and people who aren't even actors to add to the authenticity. The message and ideology Nomadland conveyed was heavy, and strong. I really appreciated it. But whether you liked the film or not, Nomadland was THE film of the year, and Chloe Zhao was well known for it. And highly respected. Marvel had their movie up-and-coming, helmed by Chloe Zhao, and now all eyes were on her, and her film Eternals.
In this period, a lot of interviews with Chloe Zhao, and Kevin Feige, revealed a lot of new details about Eternals. Firstly, we realised that Chloe Zhao had been given full creative control. She was originally handed Black Widow, but instead decided to pitch an Eternals film, which reportedly was the most ambitious and best pitch Kevin Feige had ever seen. To add to this, Chloe Zhao addressed the fact that minimal CGI was used in Eternals, she said that it was mainly going to be using real sets, for shots that feel real.
After watching the teaser, I can see that. This film looks absolutely gorgeous. The cinematography looks unlike anything we've seen in the MCU, and there is so much ambition in the teaser alone for just the shots..
"Throughout The Years, We Have Never Interfered... Until Now"
Eternals' premise is that there have been god-like beings living on Earth, over the 7000 years of human development, created by the Celestials (as in, from Guardians of the Galaxy in the Collector's explanation of the Power Stone). They haven't interfered directly with humanity, rather they've guided humanity to discover and create wonders.
Over the many years, each Eternal has been in different cultures of the world. The film looks to take place in several historical events, such as the Babylon. We see Thena helping with agriculture, while Kingo does a dance number for Bollywood. We see Sersi in an ancient market, then in modern day London. It all gives off this sense of scale and time. We know our history, and seeing such a diverse display of it in this film is very exciting for me. It feels so grandiose that we'll be going from the beginning of civilisation, to modern civilisation in only 2 hours. Not to mention the fact it's been heavily implied that the huge Celestials will play into the film in action, as well as an ongoing war between Eternals and Deviants. The fact that the Eternals are now interfering implies a giant threat that needs god-like beings to even stand a chance. Mix that deep culture, long history actually shown in the runtime, AND wild battles with huge cosmic entities being physically here, as well as god-like beings fighting other god-like beings. Eternals is gonna be one heck of a wild ride.
But That's Only The Teaser..
With the official teaser's release, it has made me absolutely ecstatic for a film I was already actively excited for. But this is just a teaser. To the more casual audience, this teaser isn't going to do much for them, even if for me the teaser gives me chills and makes me want to rewatch it over and over. Who knows what the full trailer will be. Will it show more of the plot, will we see the Celestials? Will we get more of a look at the action?
Personally, I think I want to go into this one knowing as little as possible. The teaser is something I will rewatch several times, but I will not be looking so deeply into future promotional material, and try to avoid it. I feel Eternals will blow me away and be one of the best MCU movies they've ever made. For that reason, I can't stop watching this teaser trailer..
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