Many rumors are surrounding Marvel Studios’ approach to filmmaking. Some have believed that they heavily restrict the way their directors work to ensure unity between their various projects. Some comments by director Lucrecia Martel, who was in the running for Black Widow at one point, didn’t help matters. If you throw in the highly debated use of previsualization, it seemed like some aspects of the director’s visions may be hindered. Yet, Eternals director Choé Zhao made one thing clear in an interview with Indie Wire: the action sequences in her upcoming Marvel Studios project are done by her.
I would probably say that the myth is not quite true and I think I’m not the only filmmaker who would say that. My God, for a year and a half, three times a week for a couple hours a day, I was sitting in front of a big screen making decisions for every detail of how visual effects could look in the real world.
Chloé Zhao
She highlighted that all the action sequences in the film are done by her and she had a hand in bringing them to life. The indie director is well-known for her more grounded work and use of nature. So, the bombastic Marvel Cinematic Universe was quite the change of pace for Zhao. Still, she highlighted how a lot of her work was cooperation and creative freedom with the studio.
From day one, Marvel said, ‘Here are the tools we use. We need your version. We don’t want three different movies we want your movie. They would be there to help me because I’ve never used these tools.
Chloé Zhao
James Gunn famously also highlighted the creative freedom he received from the studio. He was even set to create the path for the studio’s cosmic direction until the controversy happened. Zhao‘s exploration of the MCU’s history and cosmic origins might continue the path he set and was given the creative freedom to determine how she approached it. Even given the many discussions surrounding its current RottenTomatoes rating of 72%, it highlights that the vision we’re about to watch is what she’s been working on for so long.
Source: IndieWire, ScreenRant, Rotten Tomatoes
