‘Eternals’ Director Chloe Zhao Found Action-Scene Inspiration In… ‘The Revenant’?

Despite the fact that Marvel’s Eternals is complete and was supposed to premiere back in November 2020, audiences have seen very little of the mysterious film that will introduce a new brand of superhero to the MCU. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy before it became a blockbuster franchise, Eternals is based on one of Marvel’s more obscure titles that focuses on a group of immortal heroes who were created by omnipotent aliens to protect the Earth. Things will reportedly go awry in the film when the Eternals are forced to contend with Deviants, which are exactly as they sound: beings who were meant to be Eternals, but didn’t come out quite right. In fact, Marvel audiences have already seen a Deviant in the Marvel Universe, and he was a force to be reckoned with. A little guy by the name of Thanos.

However, while the Marvel films have a standard feel to them, Eternals director Chloe Zhao has opened up about the interesting creative choices she was allowed to make while bringing the obscure team to life, and how her inspiration for action scenes was The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which is a pretty out of left field choice for a superhero epic. Via The Playlist:

But I think for the action sequences, which I just had such a great time working on with such a great team, I wanted to reference “The Revenant” a lot. “The Revenant” is a film that I love so much. And I think we’ve watched “The Revenant” so many times, every meeting when we come to our action sequences because most of those sequences are shot on location. And I love how immersive and the way how you feel the dash and sequences in “The Revenant.” It’s definitely a film that we aspire to. And Marvel really, really supported that idea and really went for it.

Thanks to the pandemic schedule shift, Eternals is now arriving after WandaVision, which wasn’t the plan. While that show is breaking the Marvel mold with its unusual sitcom approach, Zhao loves the pressure that it puts on Eternals and how it shows Marvel’s dedication to finding the “right style for right story.”