We are only a few days away before Marvel Studios’ next entry, Eternals, finally makes its way to the silver screen. It’ll introduce the world to ten new and unlikely heroes that are part of the titular alien race. They come to Earth to battle the Celestials and nudge humanity into their development. Chloé Zhao had no easy task ahead of her introducing ten characters in one film, but it looks like there were more at one point, as she points out in an interview with Fandom:
There was 12 characters when I first read it; 12 Eternals. We had to let two go along the way.
Chloé Zhao
Luckily, our very own Charles Murphy has the answer to who the two cut characters were. In his piece, he originally released on That Hashtag Show, the characters of Zuras and Elysius were mentioned. It’s unclear how big their role was, but they were scrapped once Zhao tackled the script. It made sense to cut down as a dozen is quite the challenge to adapt. She even goes on to share how she approaches giving each of the current ten members a time to shine.
Some characters don’t need the most screen time, it’s about what they do with the screen time. They have to be memorable. And when we looked at these 10 unique individuals, we thought about how they represent 10 aspects of human nature. They’ve been here for so long, who they become today is a big part of who we are. And so it was actually equally important that they remain memorable. All 10 of them had the same weight; not necessarily screen time, but the weight.
Chloé Zhao
It’s certainly a great approach to ensure that none of the characters are left behind in the limited time a film offers. Sadly, the director doesn’t give away what exactly their role was in the story. Here’s hoping that we might get a glimpse once the film drops and if there’s a set-up that could bring in these characters later on.
Source: Fandom
