By all accounts, Eternals is set to be quite the stand-out film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Phase Four movie showcasing relatively unfamiliar characters from Marvel comics and introducing dramatic new mythology to the MCU. Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao has also teased how Eternals will stand out visually.
Zhao, who is well-known for her work on Nomadland, said that she believes Marvel Studios hired her for Eternals because of her ability to make the movie immersive enough for audiences to believe the premise that these superheroes have been around for 7,000 years. In an interview with Fandango, she highlighted that:
[T]here’s what I like to call an anthropological way of capturing things. The cameras are very grounded, and the movements are very natural. Shots are longer — we use wide angle lenses, and deep focus. Very similar to the thing you and I did together for Nomadland… it’s about giving the audience the space and the time to be able to explore what’s within the frame, and therefore come to their own conclusion of the relationship between the characters and the space they’re in.Chloé Zhao
Overall, the director emphasized that one of the most important goals of the visual process was the make the otherworldly story of Eternals feel grounded. The key to that, according to Zhao, is consistency:
In this case you’re going throughout history and 7,000 years, [and so it’s] even more important to make us feel like this world feels real and grounded. I wanted to apply that same digital style to everything from action, visual effects, to also capturing the grand mythology of the Celestials in the cosmos, and the consistency of that. I wanted it to feel grounded yet fantastical.
Chloé Zhao
If her work on Best Picture-winner Nomadland and the footage of Eternals released so far is any indication, the upcoming installment of the MCU will be a visual experience unlike what audiences have seen so far from Marvel Studios.
Source: Fandango
