01x08 - The Making of Eternals

[bunniefuu]

[DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING]

It's beautiful, isn't it?

CHAN: The Eternals is definitely

a very ambitious film.

You've got 10 new characters.

It spans 7,000 years.

You're on Earth, but you're also in space.

You're all over the planet.

Yeah, the scope and the scale of it

is huge.

MOORE: I mean, it's, I would argue,

our most ambitious film ever,

and that's in a MCU that has Endgame.

Almost anything you can think of.

There are monsters,

there are giant space gods.

There's also a love story.

It's part of why it got us excited

as filmmakers.

We've made 25 plus movies

at Marvel Studios,

but this does feel distinctly different

than anything we've done before.

HARRINGTON: This is a new world.

I think that's the thing

that's incredible about Marvel,

it's an incredibly complex universe.

I really think

Eternals is the most epic movie

that Marvel's done.

It's literally the highest stakes

that any MCU superhero

has had to deal with so far.

[HEROIC INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

MOORE: By the end of this film,

how we look at the MCU

and the Earth itself will change.

The impact the Eternals will have

on the MCU

will be nothing less than redefining

the Cinematic Universe entirely.

[SERENE MUSIC PLAYING]

ZHAO: My initial vision for the film

can be summed up

in the William Blake poem.

"To see the World

"in a Grain of Sand

"And a Heaven in a Wild Flower.

"Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

"And Eternity in an hour."

When I went in to pitch

without saying anything,

that's what I did. [CHUCKLES]

The vision for the film is

how can we capture something so epic

and intimate at the same time,

something as epic

as the creation of the sun

and as intimate as

the soft whispers of a lover?

And how to have these moments

coexist in the film?

And that was the challenge.

[CAPTIVATING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

ZHAO: I'm not quite sure how it happened.

I had just made The Rider at the time.

So, when I got a call to come in

to meet Nate Moore,

I was very surprised and happy

about Eternals.

MOORE: We always look for directors

that inspire us

and who get great performances.

And I had seen Chloé's first film,

and then I saw The Rider

and thought it was amazing.

ZHAO: The very first conversation

I had with Nate

was very much about, obviously,

the stories and characters,

but also what I can contribute.

Right away we dive into,

one is, what are we doing,

but also how we're doing it.

Because how we're making this film

is going to define

what this film's gonna become.

Chloé has a very specific vision

for the movie.

Because of the way she sh**t,

it feels extra personal.

So, you get the sensation

that you're making

almost like an independent film

that is huge.

When I heard she's doin' a Marvel movie,

I was like,

"Oh, God, I'd love to be a part of that."

And see how she gets in behind this

superhero world and makes it her own.

Chloé Zhao, who comes out of a more

naturalistic style of filmmaking,

really pressed us to figure out

how to sh**t more of this

on practical location,

which, again, is challenging

just from a logistical standpoint

of getting your crew to different places.

Finding places that you can sh**t outside,

battling rain and the elements,

it's challenging.

It's hard on your crew,

it's hard on your cast,

it's hard on our VFX team.

But it's all in service of

an aesthetic that's totally different.

That's a challenge we wanted to take on.

It's definitely a challenge,

but it's a challenge I love.

Because I came in both as a filmmaker

who wants to tell a story

but also as a fan.

For me, the MCU is a place with

great characters and great adventures.

And it's very obvious

it is made by a team of people

who really love the genre

and love their fans.

[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]

It is time.

FEIGE: Marvel Studios and

the Marvel Cinematic Universe

is now past their 10th anniversary.

And with the release of

the final Avengers movie,

we finally completed

a 22-movie Infinity saga.

Where do we go from there?

Where do we start?

And what we really wanted to do

was two things.

Start fresh with whole new characters,

new storylines,

but actually go back to some of

the deepest, richest mythology

in all of Marvel Comics.

And when you look at

the myth-builders of Marvel,

Jack Kirby, he's called King Kirby

for a reason,

and he created The Eternals

many years ago,

which is one of the most mythologically

rich storylines in the history of Marvel.

It really gives us

a rich canvas to play with,

not just the Marvel canvas,

but the actual historical mythologies

of our world.

[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]

The Eternals in the comics were

created by Jack Kirby in the late 1970s.

It was his second stint at Marvel,

and he was looking to do something

cosmic and completely new.

And in the comics, much like our film,

their job was

to protect humanity long enough

for the Celestials to come back and judge

whether humanity was worthy of

joining them in the stars.

In our film, I think they share

a very similar origin.

In the comics, the Celestials

came to Earth, found early man,

and did an experiment.

They created the Deviants,

which were a failed experiment.

And then seeing that they sort of failed,

they created the Eternals

as a counterpoint.

Kirby created a world that was

so exciting and interesting,

but it was grounded in human history

and treated like

it could live in our world.

[WAVES CRASHING]

I do love the mythology behind it,

and I love that he was able to bring

space mythology

with human mythology of the planet Earth

and that he combined that together

and created characters

that experienced that.

And gave us an opportunity to be able

to re-learn about our own history.

We're really excited

to explore the origins

of the entire

Marvel Cinematic Universe in our film.

We're looking at, for the first time,

meeting the Celestials face to face,

And you've sort of seen

glimpses of them in other films.

The Celestials we have hinted at

in earlier films,

Guardians of the Galaxy, Knowhere,

the base of operations for the Collector,

is in fact a Celestial head.

KAZ: The Celestials are such a cornerstone

of Marvel storytelling in publishing

and we wanna make them equally important

to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

[WHOOSHING]

KAZ: At its heart, Eternals is an epic.

It's about immortality.

It's about identity, it's about duty.

And we're exploring all these things

that so many amazing superheroes

have done before.

But specifically we're looking at it

over the course of the entirety of

mankind's history here on Earth.

To talk a little about the process,

we were given 800 pages of research.

All the comics, every graphic novel,

everything about this universe,

"Here you go. Go make up a movie."

And we spent four weeks, five weeks

really just thinking

and bashing our heads against the wall

and coming up with this world.

The Eternals has had three runs in comics

spanning over the last 30 or 40 years.

I mean, we're endlessly inspired

by all of King Kirby's works

and Neil Gaiman's run with The Eternals.

MOORE: The expectation,

I think, by our fans,

is that we're really going to mine from

the Neil Gaiman early 2000s run.

And that, to a lot of degrees,

is the most popular of The Eternals runs,

but for us, the true inspiration was from

Jack Kirby's original 1976 run.

And that is partially because he really

did steep that in our world history,

the history of the Aztecs.

A lot of his design language,

a lot of his, even narrative inspiration

was from the history of the world.

I have seen them fight and lie and k*ll

[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]

but I have also seen them

laugh and love.

ZHAO: What I like about

the story of Eternals

is that we're going back to

the beginning of our civilization

to see that actually,

they've been among us,

and they've been helping us

for all this time.

We're able to look at

real historical events.

We're able to look at the tragedies

and our greatest moments

and look at it through the lens of

what it means to be here on this planet.

This planet

and these people

have changed me.

And that afforded us an opportunity

to go back in time

and see things we haven't seen before.

Not only in the Marvel Universe,

but as filmmakers,

things that we don't get to see

a lot in film, frankly.

Ancient Mesopotamia

at the very dawn of civilization

and ancient Babylon, which is to most

historians the cradle of civilization.

The Gupta Empire at 200 AD.

It's a time period that we felt

we hadn't seen before a lot in cinema,

but was very rich with

a lot of historical facts

that even us as filmmakers

didn't know about.

Why didn't you guys help fight Thanos?

Or any w*r? Or all the other

terrible things throughout history?

We were instructed

not to interfere in any human conflicts

unless Deviants were involved.

Initially, trying to define

what these Deviants were,

we started looking

at ancient monsters from old stories.

You know,

from the Greeks and the Egyptians.

Chloé wanted something very unique.

We wanted to have something

that was alien,

but also add shapes

that we could kinda recognize.

Like, at the beginning

of the film, in Mesopotamia,

they're much bigger,

they're like dinosaurs.

They're huge monsters.

And as they evolve and as the time passes,

they become more like animals

that we see nowadays.

So, there was all that

kind of storytelling aspect of it

and that was informing

the design of the Deviants.

FIRPO: Even though The Eternals

takes place over 10,000 years

and there's these different elements

at the same time, Kevin and Nate,

through the whole process

have just constantly promoted character.

It's important to know the tone

and the genre of the movie

you're trying to make.

And the action to some degree, I think,

and I think our fans would agree

Run!

is secondary to the storytelling,

to what is the emotional core of

this movie, and why is that special

and why is that moving.

Because if the emotional core

and the characters aren't there,

then there's no attachment to

whatever happens to Iron Man or Thor.

In this case, the Eternals.

We're very much focusing on the family

dynamic of this group of Eternals.

There's layers to this movie.

There's a great sci-fi adventure

that spans through time.

And then underneath that,

there's a very complex family drama.

And then underneath that is a love story.

And then at the core of it actually,

I think, is the journey of self-discovery.

Our film is really led by Sersi,

this complex and flawed female hero

who really is, I think, our most human

hero in the MCU that we've ever seen.

Ethereal.

Observant.

Sweetness.

The future.

CHAN: Sersi is an empath,

and she can manipulate matter.

She can turn things into other things,

she also doesn't quite understand

the extent of her powers.

She is a very creative person. I think,

what excites me about her character is

she doesn't really punch anybody.

You know, her power comes from

her curiosity.

Therefore, she's an artist.

And she has a deep connection to nature.

You know, she's curious about humanity,

the way other Eternals might not be.

Sersi in the comics,

she has this lust for life

that often isn't seen in

stories about immortality.

She finds the beauty

in having been alive for so long

because she pulls upon

her experiences and her memories

and thinks of them fondly.

So that positive take is what

drew us to her as our protagonist.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

Conflicted.

Passion.

Mysterious.

Amazing.

Ikaris carries the weight of the world

on his shoulders.

He is the loyal soldier.

He wrestles with what's right

for him as a being

and what's right for the greater good.

So

Ikaris.

Sersi and Ikaris have been

on and off for about 5,000 years

so, yes, pretty long-term.

I guess you can call that long-term.

ZHAO: I think they look at humanity

very differently.

One analogy I really like is that

when Sersi sees a desert,

she sees grains of sand

and she finds beauty

in every grain of sand.

But Ikaris doesn't really see that.

He's looking at, "Okay, now

there's danger in the desert.

"We need to go." Then they

fall in love with each other

because they love seeing the world

through each other's eyes.

You know, they've hurt each other

in the past.

5,000 years, they've been through

everything together,

and there's real love there

and a lot of history.

I think like all great love stories,

films like Casablanca,

there are ups and downs.

And the kind of burden

they carry for the film,

the evolution of humanity have affected

how they feel about who they are.

Technology.

Inventor.

Smart.

Smart.

Protective.

HENRY: Phastos is basically

the technopath,

which means

I can use my mind and my energy

to literally assemble anything

out of any technology.

Everything he does, he wants

It's for the advancement of humankind.

He has so much faith in humanity.

He's so passionate

and, unfortunately as humans, we don't

always live up to his expectations.

At some point in his life,

he really changed his view of humankind

and just shut down.

And what I do love about his arc

is that you watch him care again.

For Phastos, who is that person who moves

from his heart and moves from his soul,

he's trying to restore that in himself

and restore it in others around him.

He's very much a emotional core for

many, many of the moments in the film.

There were more Deviants than you said.

Well, I'm sure that was

a lot of fun for you.

It was.

Fight.

Erratic.

Warrior.

Warrior.

Warrior.

Fragile.

[CAPTIVATING MUSIC PLAYING]

Thena is a warrior

and fights so fearlessly,

and that's all she loves to do.

She's the goddess of w*r.

She can manifest

different weapons in her hands,

which is complicated

when you're preparing or training.

I kept asking what my w*apon was gonna be

so I could practice with it.

And I would just get weapons sent to me.

But I kept getting so many weapons

until I realized

it was gonna [CHUCKLING]

be a combination of all of them.

ZHAO: When she's not fighting, she doesn't

know where she belongs and how to be.

She's quiet and very observant.

And I would say has to go through

one of, if not the biggest obstacle,

in this film.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

Strong.

Provider.

Special brew.

Sexy, maybe. [CHUCKLES]

Gilgamesh is the strongest

of the Eternals.

He is a protector. His specialties

are punch, strong punch.

I should say big punch. Yeah. [CHUCKLES]

Gilgamesh has got the biggest heart.

He's very loyal.

He always puts his friends first.

It's a fun-loving, entertaining character.

I feel like I'm a big brother

for my family.

He's the lovable teddy bear.

He doesn't take things too seriously.

He takes time to stop and enjoy life.

Gilgamesh asked Druig

to put me to sleep once.

So I could take a vacation to Fiji,

you know?

[LAUGHS]

ZHAO: He's also the best cook.

If there is a holiday or a party,

you wanna want to go to Gilgamesh's house.

Sarcasm.

So cute.

Tragic.

McHUGH: Sprite can create illusions.

She's really fiery.

A little bit of a temper.

- Right?

- You abandoned me in Macedonia.

ZHAO: Sprite is someone who's

lived forever, stuck in a child's body.

And that's not easy. She is actually

the most mature of all the Eternals.

One of the most interesting things

about the Gaiman run of the comics

is the way he handles Sprite.

He gave it a new level

of tragedy and nuance,

and I think that caused us to wanna make

her an important character in our film.

All she's ever wanted is to be able to

experience a beautiful life

and be able to be a child

and go through that experience.

ZHAO: For Sprite,

it's a very emotional journey for her

to find her place.

[BUZZING]

[CRASHES]

Oh, no, you didn't.

Yearning.

Passion.

Jerk.

Druig sucks.

He does, sir.

Druig. He's mind control.

He stands for what he believes in.

And if that decision puts him

in a division with the others,

he's not afraid of that.

He's very idealistic

and he's very philosophical.

He is someone that if he likes you, great.

If he doesn't like you,

you better watch out.

Walking down the steps of the Aztec,

the set itself was unreal.

Very, very tricky because the steps were

very, very steep, you know,

and I had to look at the camera

when I'm walking down.

Just hoped that I get the next step

and, you know, play it cool.

Then everyone in costume

and then to be standin' up,

and everyone drops. It's like

[BLOWS AIR]

That was a superhero moment, that.

[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Showboat.

Show-off.

Charisma.

Funny dude.

[LAUGHS]

Joy.

Kingo. Kingo loves life.

NANJIANI: So, Kingo is this guy

who's always been pretty flashy.

He's always wanted

people to know he's a superhero,

but he can't reveal that.

So, to him, this is the second best thing.

Superhero, movie star.

So people won't know he's a superhero.

But everyone's gonna know

he's a movie star.

You think I'm a movie star.

Well, I am. But I am also

an Eternal.

My character's introduction in the present

is on a Bollywood movie set,

and he does this big

Bollywood dance number.

I don't dance. I don't know how to dance.

We'd started sh**ting, and Chloé was like,

"Just so you know, I'm writing you

a big dance sequence."

And I was like, "I'm full of fear.

That sounds amazing.

"Get me a dance teacher."

And so, Nileeka has been my dance teacher,

and I worked with her for months

before we actually sh*t that scene.

And there were, like, 50 backup dancers,

and there's this massive Bollywood set.

All the work paid off.

It looks beautiful.

[WHOOSHES]

Fast.

Fast.

Super-fast.

MOORE: Makkari is the fastest woman

in the universe.

She uses her cosmic energy

to run at accelerated rates.

But she can also break the sound barrier

so she can create these amazing

concussive blasts of sound,

which makes her very powerful in battle.

MOORE: Anyone who's met Lauren

has seen her energy.

She really pushed us

to use sign language in the film.

And her husband, Doug, ended up being

a sign language interpreter for us as well

and helped the other actors learn to sign.

She gave us rules

by which we could run a set

that would be friendly

for someone who is deaf.

She brought a lot of that knowledge

into our production

so that we could do things the right way.

Leader.

- Maternal.

- Mother.

Mama.

Love.

Ajak is kind of

the leader of the Eternals.

The way she approaches this leadership

is from the perspective of motherhood.

So, she has a special relationship

with each one of them.

ZHAO: She's both the mother and a teacher.

She's both loving, but also tough.

And she has some big, big decisions

to make in the film.

I had a very important moment for me

in this film, personally.

I have a scene

where you have to ride a horse.

And I had an accident with a horse

many, many years ago.

So, I didn't get on horses.

And I freed myself

from my past, from my fear.

And I was able to just

gallop with the horse and feel

And I really didn't know

if I was gonna be able to do it.

But I wanted to do it.

And I think it even helped me

with the character.

For the character,

it was a freeing experience for me.

[INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING]

I think, for me, each of these characters

and the journey,

the emotional journey they go through,

represents an aspect of human nature.

And a exploration of the duality

in each of us.

So, in a way, what they picked up from us,

that they love or hate,

say a lot about who they are,

but also say a lot about who we are.

- And action.

- And action!

[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]

I think it was very cleverly cast,

this movie.

Every single one of us

is bizarrely right for the role.

Everybody is unique and special

and loving and giving.

When I cast, you know,

in all the films I've made before,

I'm trying to see how much of this

character that's already in this person.

That excites me the most.

As much as possible.

So then, they're going to bring an aspect

of who they are on screen.

There's a camera.

It will capture something

that I can never plan

and I can never write,

and that process excites me.

There was definitely some

unexpected relationships and dynamics

that came about

that I would never have thought

just from reading the script

off the pages,

once you get the actors together.

I really loved having one-on-one scenes

with each of the actors in the cast,

and we really discovered

unexpected things.

I think we're very fortunate.

The first time

they got in the room together,

the sparks were just flying.

I was like, "Okay," you know?

You never expect to see these people

in the same room in the real world.

They come from different backgrounds,

and they come from

different life experiences.

But there is something about

each of my cast.

There's just a bit of a misfit about them.

They carry something quite special.

And that, I think, unites them as a family

because the Eternals lives

on the periphery.

A group of immortals who have been

on Earth for 35,000 years.

They've been there amongst the MCU.

We haven't met them before.

Do you guys have any interest

in meeting some of the Eternals?

- CROWD: [CHEERING] Yes!

- All right.

I know the cast all met for the same

time, save Gemma, at Comic-Con in July.

Ladies and gentlemen, as Ikaris,

Richard Madden.

Kumail Nanjiani.

Lauren Ridloff.

Playing Sprite, Lia McHugh.

WOMAN: How does it feel to be

the youngest person

to portray one of the oldest

MCU characters?

- [CHUCKLING] It doesn't feel real.

- [WOMAN LAUGHS]

Comic-Con was really fun

to meet everyone for the first time.

I mean, I think immediately

we all just clicked.

Coming together for the first time

at Comic-Con was major because

- Salma Hayek.

- [CROWD CHEERING]

HAYEK: there were so many people

to present ourselves to

at the same time that we

were presenting ourselves to each other.

And that was bizarre. That was bizarre.

And kind of scary also

to realize the level of expectation

that the audience have.

[CROWD CHEERING]

And we're just like standing there

looking at each other and saying,

"We better not mess this up."

The Eternals!

[CROWD CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

What excites me the most, selfishly,

is the world-building, and the designs.

The foundation, Jack Kirby's comics,

and also the Neil Gaiman run as well,

are great inspirations.

We also done a lot of research

with historians,

language experts,

anthropologists, scientists.

[UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING]

And it was very important

for Eternals to do that

because to convince the audience

that these superheroes have been

on this planet for 7,000 years,

you want to really feel like

they were actually there, visually.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

STEWART: So, as a production designer,

you're actually responsible for every

single thing that you see on camera,

whether someone's eatin' a sandwich,

to whether someone's driving a car

or a spaceship, or every single location.

When you have to build over 130 sets,

it's a huge endeavor.

And the scope is enormous.

We're traveling 'round the world,

through space, through time.

It's been extraordinary,

the breadth and width of everything

that we've had to achieve.

My starting point on this film

was obviously the Kirby comics.

I really looked at those,

and one of the great things is

how much it linked in with the script

in certain ways.

One of the sets in particular really

inspired me to delve further into it.

And this set was

the Aztec temple of Teotihuacán.

It was believed to have

been set up by gods or aliens.

It's in human folklore everywhere.

So, I really started to investigate this,

and then it worked out that

there's over 100,000 people lived there.

It was nowhere near a river.

It was nowhere near anything.

And the myth and the legend is

that some gods had come

and built this for the people.

And so, that started

a real train of thought

that I took through

to the rest of the production.

Then I started to really get into

what influence that they think

the alien peoples have come to this planet

and had an influence

on our technology, on everything.

And what was amazing

is then going back to the comics,

and within that, there were illustrations

of all the temples

and his own take on it

with the Eternals and the Celestials

drawn within the decoration

on the temples.

So we took that forward

and lifted that decoration

and then had that emblazoned on our build.

When they're in the interior, the top of

the temple, it's very much that Kirby nod.

Our production design led by Eve Stewart,

really did their homework

creating a language

that then we could employ on the costumes

and on walls of the starship

and have an aesthetic that felt unified.

We wanted it to feel ancient

and technologically advanced all at once,

that was a challenge

from a design standpoint.

How do you make these aliens feel

like they've been here for 7,000 years

and also feel like

the inspiration for things

humans built throughout history?

Well, this was a real challenge

'cause when I started,

I read that the Eternals had been created

by the Celestials.

It was a million years ago, so it

can't be a spaceship like all the ones

you love in the Ridley Scott films.

And then this spaceship has been

lying dormant, theoretically, on Earth

for the last 7,000 years.

I felt it couldn't have any proper

reference to human technology.

Also, on top of that, I just felt that it

was such a spiritual place

for these people

and it'd been set up, theoretically,

by the Celestials, which are gods.

So, I started to look at sacred geometry,

the way shapes worked throughout

all the religions across the world.

Any religion loves a circle.

All religions love a triangle.

So, I was trying to put those together.

So the exterior of the ship became

triangular quite quickly

just because of aerodynamics.

But also, Chloé and I discussed a lot

how triangles and circles fit together,

both in Christianity and Islamism

and also in Asian culture.

So, it became a very global thing

that we went for.

So, we started with loads of triangles.

And then I went to see some scientists,

and they said this was very good

because triangular planes

can also create a vertical lift

if you've got enough energy

around all the points.

So, this is where we started.

HAYEK: I was really, really surprised

when I walked into our ship.

Because how many ships have you seen?

They all look the same. Futuristic.

This one is completely

out of the ordinary, unimaginable,

every object, every little detail in it.

It's really new and exciting.

STEWART: I really love the spaceship

because it's so unusual,

and I think it is to do with the circular

nature of it with the domed ceilings,

and that it's almost cathedral-like

or temple-like.

And the textures of it,

we worked really hard getting it

so that it looked like

the inside of a meteor.

Like, it was really, truly ancient.

We looked at

ancient Babylonian cuneiforms.

We actually made our own.

These say things like, star, moon,

travel, man, Earth, and god.

These correspond exactly to the costumes.

When they stand against this wall, the

power from Arishem creates the costumes.

[SERENE MUSIC PLAYING]

DIFFER: All the shapes in the costumes

are based in the world of Jack Kirby.

One thing that Chloé discussed a lot

was the circles with the lines

that run through all his imagery.

ZHAO: Because they had been

on Earth for 7,000 years,

could the symbols, the shapes on their

bodies have influenced some designs

in religion and in cultures

all around the world?

So that all went into the design.

I can honestly say that these costumes

are the most difficult superhero costumes

I've ever made.

[UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING]

DIFFER: This room is our exhibition

of the superhero costumes

and some of the other epochs

within the film.

When I first read the script, I was like,

"Wow! This has got everythin'."

It's got all different periods.

It's got future, past, everything.

So, from a costume design perspective,

there's a lot there to play with.

And on top of that, you know

you're gonna design 10 new superheroes.

One of the things that was asked

was that they didn't look like

just superhero armor-clad uniforms,

that they look like a second skin.

And we had to incorporate the cosmos.

So we started off looking at

minerals and nature,

and started experimenting with fabrics.

ZHAO: I remember Kevin

visited our production.

He was like, "This is like

a science experiment."

Because when you see the film,

you see it isn't just blue.

We used different type of black,

different type of blue,

and oil paint, and then

put them together on a sheet.

And then you have to wait for a few days

to naturally see what kind of texture

you get.

Each of these costumes are unique.

It takes many, many experiments,

because on a big screen,

you can really see all the textures.

There's so many layers on each costume

and they're all done by hand.

It's a big undertaking,

and the smallest amount of pieces

on a character was five or six.

Going up to, like, Sprite,

who had 18 pieces on her.

And each one of those pieces

has to be drawn up in the computer,

molded, cast, cleaned up,

edited, paint work.

All of our pieces are

incredibly labor intensive.

So, at times, I had seven or eight people

in the work room

just painting these pieces.

And for each of these 10 characters,

we had at least six repeats of costumes.

So, it's really difficult to imagine just

how much work there was in there.

Ajak loves nature

and she is also the leader,

and has the link to the Celestials.

So she has this amazing headdress,

and there's a lot of flowing lines

upwards with her.

Very gold and blue.

And we've got this amazing cape,

which is all hand-painted.

And I was lucky to work with Sammy,

who put a lot of symbolic stuff

into my costume.

There's a mixture of empowerment

and also pride

of being able to wear this costume

that means something important.

Sersi loves humanity,

she's a very giving person.

The color that we gave her

was basically green and silver.

So, she has flowing areas

to make it feminine and soft.

It's not super-structured.

It's a bit more ethereal, really.

And then we've got Ikaris,

who is very much a fighter.

We wanted to get away from the idea that

you've just got a superhero jumpsuit.

And so for him, it's done

in a segmented armor way.

Sprite, she's a thinker.

And it's slightly alabastery,

and a bit of jade going on with hers.

What we decided to do with her was have

a bit of fun with her modern look

and kinda show her as someone

who actually desperately

wants to be more grown up.

So she wears quite quirky

but serious clothes.

Like she was trying to find an identity.

And then, we have Druig.

He's very monastic.

He goes through a very big turning point.

As we go through time with him,

he gets darker and darker.

so his costume is very dark.

It's quite long.

It's very strong in the center.

Thena is a warrior,

but equally, there's also

a fragility about her.

She starts off as this

amazing gold goddess,

and then slowly through time,

she becomes this fragile,

lacey, very soft,

damaged butterfly in a way.

Gilgamesh is the strongest warrior,

so he's very heavily armored,

and this is quite hard, for him.

And he goes on the journey with Thena,

so he gets stuck in time with her.

So, they don't change

their clothes to the modern world.

So, we had them living in a place

where they sort of stopped in about 1900.

And so, he has very old-looking clothes.

NANJIANI: What I love about my costume is

that there is no other costume in

the MCU that looks like this one.

It moves really well. It fits really well.

And it's purple, which has been

my favorite color my whole life.

And I'm sure everybody tells you that

they got teary-eyed when they put it on.

And I certainly did.

My favorite moment on this film

has been Brian.

His final fitting was just

absolutely my favorite moment.

So I go in for my final fitting.

You see the drawings

It still doesn't really hit you

'cause every time

they showed me the drawings,

I was like, "Is that me? That's not me.

Is that really me?"

We put the costume on him

and he wouldn't look in the mirror.

I just battled with a lot of things

when it came to how I thought

the MCU should look,

and I was really nervous

about how I'd be portrayed.

He was starting to breathe really heavily.

Every time a zipper went up,

or a button went on,

or like I've put my boots on,

I was just like, "Okay!"

They're like,

"Brian, you have to turn and look."

I'm, "I'm really not ready."

I was worried for him,

he said, "No, I'm fine."

So when they finally zipped up the back,

they're, "Okay, you have to

look at yourself."

So I turned around.

And then when he did turn around,

he just screamed.

[YELLS]

"Oh, my God! This is incredible."

[YELLS]

I just screamed, "Everybody come in here.

"Everybody who had anything to do

with this suit, come in here."

And so, they all came in.

And I just And I'm

I'm crying, I am weeping.

"You don't understand

how you just made this little Black boy

"from North Carolina who never

thought in a million years

"that he could stand here and believe

that he was a superhero."

I have to say this from

the bottom of my heart,

every single person that had

anything to do with making this movie,

they're the real heroes, like honestly.

We couldn't be the heroes

we are without them,

and I just want people to know that

when they watch these movies

that there are so many people

that give their time and their effort

to make me feel like a superhero.

[INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING]

My favorite part was seeing

everyone in costume

and all of us just standing in a line.

NANJIANI: It just was so exciting to see

everybody in their costumes.

We were all screaming

and getting teary-eyed all day.

I was like, [EXCLAIMING]

"Oh, my God! Look!"

When we did all come together,

we were quite moved.

It was really amazing.

It was very windy, it was very dramatic.

Everyone's capes were flying.

There are times in a production

where you get to feel almost like a fan.

And that's really special.

ZHAO: Thank you. Thank you, Eternals!

[SLOW INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

HARRINGTON: When I signed up

for this movie, I thought,

"I'll be in a big green box

in the studio somewhere,

"and that's just what this is."

I was wrong. I think I've been in

the studio one day

out of all my days of being here.

Chloé really wanted to use as much

practical settings, sets, as we could,

so we've been on location a lot.

The locations and the geography

is a huge part of the film.

It's entwined with it, because it's really

the story of the growth of civilization,

combined with nature

and the way humanity and nature

have evolved alongside each other.

So, we sh*t a lot around London,

and London was

a Swiss Army Kn*fe location for us.

It allowed us to be in North Dakota,

then in Alaska.

It allowed us to be

in the Amazon, surprisingly.

It allowed us to be in

different periods of history.

It was the night sh**t where

they'd shut down Camden.

I kind of went, "Wow, this is

They can do this?

"They can shut down one of the busiest

parts of London for us to film here?"

That's a lot of ambition.

But we also sh*t a good deal of the film

in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote,

in the Canary Islands,

which is a Spanish-owned island chain

off the coast of Africa.

That gave us a lot of looks

that we hadn't had

in any of our other movies.

And allowed us to

double again, historically,

for places that no longer exist

or are hard to get to.

Yeah, we went to the Canary Islands,

and then we were sh**ting

Babylon and Mesopotamia,

and we felt like

we are in Mesopotamia.

It looked so real and that is so great.

It was great to be able to actually sh**t

on locations and forests and woods

on these black sand beaches,

on volcanic islands.

HAYEK: When you are actually

on a location,

it helps you get into

the reality of things,

as bizarre as they are.

You've never seen places like these.

This is absolutely magical. Magical.

It's spectacular, this landscape.

HENRY: I've never been around the world

like this on a movie.

This movie is by no means easy.

I don't know if you've been to

Fuerteventura, but there is nothing there.

No diss, but, like, it is an island.

And then we show up at this location,

and it's like rocks,

there used to be volcanoes here.

And then you're on a cliff.

Did I mention that?

There were cliffs on this place,

and you're doing major fight scenes.

And you're climbing over things

and you're doing wire work.

And then there's the beach.

The wind of Fuerteventura is no joke,

you're like in dust.

And black sand does not

come off your body that easily.

It was unbelievable 'cause when I tell you

that we had to band together,

we had to band together, and I think

we got incredibly close at Fuerteventura.

It was fun to all be in the same hotel

'cause we were all having dinner

and seeing each other and hanging out.

I think being on location

really helps you feel it more

and just be more in the moment.

- ZHAO: Cut. All right.

- Dave?

- ZHAO: Beautiful. That's it. Got it.

- MAN: Yeah. We got it.

For us, going to sh**t on location

allowed us to be able to capture

the light and capture the place.

You want the audience to not only

to see the character,

you wanna see the character in

relationship to the world behind them.

It's very difficult to make that

feel real on a stage.

So, going to a location was

a very natural progression.

And it's exciting for our

visual effect supervisor, Steph Ceretti.

He always wanted to capture

as many real

and natural elements as possible.

Actually, for us, it's more interesting

to have to deal with real material

that comes with all the things

you can't control, really.

[WIND BLOWING]

And that makes the film

a bit more real in that sense.

We really wanted to push the idea

that everything has to be sh*t,

as much as possible, in a real place.

And Chloé really wanted that.

For example, the Amazon Forest scene

- [GRUNTS]

- [GROWLS]

Ikaris!

CERETTI: We were talking

about sh**ting it in a studio

and talking with Chloé,

and the two of us were like,

"No, I mean, we can't do that.

There's never going to be enough room.

"We gotta sh**t that on location."

Even though it was really difficult,

in England, getting into the winter,

lots of rain, [CHUCKLES]

as you can imagine.

But it made total sense to actually

go on location and feel the environment.

And have the actors in the environment

and feeling the elements.

And also having

that freedom with the camera

to sh**t anywhere and not be constrained.

So, it was much more organic in that way,

sh**ting it this way

and much more visceral

which, you know, Chloé really wanted

to capture as much as possible.

- [YELLS]

- [GROWLING]

And it's difficult,

a big challenge for him.

How he can make his visual effects element

blend into the real world

because when you hit that sweet spot,

then you can achieve the kind of realism

that Eternals really needs.

[GROWLING]

CERETTI: The action scene on the beach

Beautiful environment, amazing location.

We wanted to sh**t there

so we could capture as much as possible

from the real light,

the environment, the wind.

There was challenges

in bringing stunt rigs

and special effects rigs on the beach

because it was so remote.

And there was a lot of the action

we could not actually sh**t,

so we ended up building the environment

as a CG environment

so that we could have it

and also design some sh*ts

that we couldn't get on location,

with full CG characters fighting, flying,

hitting each other at full speed.

But the thing that we tried to keep

is the cinematography aspect of it.

Trying to make our CG sh*ts

to match the style of sh**ting

that Chloé wanted to retain,

to keep it natural.

When you do a sequence on a set,

you usually have

full control of the light.

The light doesn't change,

the sky doesn't change,

because it's the same sky we use

for all the sh*ts.

Here it's not the way it is.

Every sh*t had a different sky,

a different wind, a different cloud,

so it's something

that we tried to fight a little bit,

but then Chloé told us,

"Don't fight it, don't fight it.

"Make it look natural.

"We went there to sh**t it

and things change.

"Do the same in your CG sh*ts.

"Just make it as it would be natural.

"Embrace the natural light

and the natural elements."

So that was very, very interesting for us.

It was a really cool

symbiotic relationship.

[UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING]

To some degree, it was a learning curve

for her to work with

because she had never been

on a movie this size,

she'd never had the same resources

that we have on our films.

But we'd never tried to tell a story

the way that she does.

We'd never moved the camera

in the way that she wants to.

ZHAO: I come from an Indie world.

To be able to let your imagination

just be set free

and then to have people

who are so experienced and open-minded

to be able to take your ideas

and elevate it

and just go crazy with it

is an incredible process.

- MAN 1: He's holding the white bag.

- MAN 2: Yeah, that is good.

Chloé likes to sh**t at

what she would call "magic hour,"

when the sun is just about to

dip below the horizon.

You've all these heroes

in their amazing costumes,

and the ocean is this giant wave,

and the wind is blowing,

and it's the perfect environment

that you would hope that you could

recreate digitally but very rarely could.

And the actors and actresses

would say that moment was special

'cause it was the end of the movie.

So, even though you're sh**ting

out of sequence,

you feel it from an energy

and a dramatic standpoint.

But that was a moment

that really felt special.

[LIFE MEMORY SUITE PLAYING]

ZHAO: We knew this film has to

heavily rely on themes.

You have 11 characters, right?

And you have 7,000 years human history.

And you have space, you have Earth,

all these elements.

It's important to repeat themes.

And that's something Ramin does

so beautifully in Game of Thrones.

Ramin created

these beautiful, beautiful themes.

And when the theme starts,

he evoke a emotion.

Instead of giving themes

to each characters,

we thought about it, thematically,

"What do those characters go through

throughout history?

"Love, mission, memories,

just all these aspects.

"And let's create themes

for their emotional state."

ZHAO: That way, yeah, actually, the themes

help us connect this massive story.

So every time that memory theme shows up,

it doesn't matter

whether you're in present-day Amazon,

or you're in Ancient Babylon,

you understand how far

these characters has journeyed,

and yet they still are dealing with

the same struggles, which is humanity.

- Eternals assemble.

- WOMAN 1: Thank you.

- ZHAO: Eternals assemble.

- WOMAN 2: Okay.

HAYEK: There is a family atmosphere,

but there's something very profound about

the way she approaches the characters,

and how she works with the actors.

And she really draws you into a character.

- So good.

- [CHUCKLES]

NANJIANI: I think the character moments

are hugely important,

and those are the real moments that

people remember from the MCU movies.

The little moment, the Avengers

sitting around eating shawarma.

That's the stuff that

really people connect with.

And Chloé Zhao, our director,

has been very good about

finding those little moments.

Obviously, the fighting, the aliens,

all that stuff, very exciting.

But we've been a family for 7,000 years.

There's a lot of baggage there,

and exploring that has been the most

satisfying part of this movie.

McHUGH: Chloé is so perceptive in

every single little moment of the film,

and she's always thinking of

what she can do better,

and she just wants to

make it the best that it can be.

She's involved

in every single aspect of the film,

she's doing 100 things at once.

I don't know how she does it,

but it's amazing.

She's a kamikaze agent, man.

There's nothing greater

than watching your director

see you do something and get excited,

when she jumps from behind the camera

and runs up.

She makes you wanna try stuff.

She makes you believe

the vision includes you

and how you craft it

and how you mold it,

so there's a lot of improv,

there's a lot of discoveries

that we're finding amongst each other.

I knew she'd get the character stuff.

I knew she'd get the relationship stuff,

but her stuff with the action

There'll be an action scene we sh**t,

she's like, "You wanna see it?"

I'll look,

and it just looks like

no other action scene I've seen,

in an MCU movie or otherwise.

HAYEK: Chloé uses our personalities

and our diversity

in a seamless way in the film

that it's unifying,

and it makes you feel part

of something really special.

[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]

I never imagined that I would

ever be part of the MCU,

especially, as like a superhero.

I had some friends who got to be

in 'em in different parts

and I was like, "Oh, man,

I just wanna be a guy who

"fixes Captain America's computer

or something."

And now to actually be in this,

it's pretty great.

To be able to be a part

of a film by Marvel

that has the most diversity

that we've ever seen

in any superhero movie of all time.

I think it's exciting. I think it really

shows the scope of the film,

and it's global.

You see this great mix of people

from lots of different backgrounds

and cultures.

I think it really enriches

the story that we're telling

because it really is an epic global story.

KAZ: And really, it's the first time

we've ever been here on Earth,

where we've had a team of superheroes

that really are as diverse as Earth is.

You know, as our planet is,

as humanity is.

This ensemble, truly, I'm getting chills

thinking about it.

Everybody looks different,

sounds different.

Everybody has a completely

different energy.

I've literally never seen

an ensemble like this,

and the fact that

we get to do it for Marvel

as superheroes, what a special thing.

HENRY: It's interesting because I never

in a million years thought

I'd be a part of the MCU.

What I like about what Chloé did

is that she really took us as is.

I know that

I'm not the standard Marvel aesthetic,

but Chloé, she was like,

"No, that is the point.

"Like, you are that.

"We need these people

to reflect everyday people,

"'cause anyone can be a superhero."

I love that because people going into this

have their own concept of

what they think Marvel should be,

and how Marvel should look like,

should sound.

And, what we're doin' is,

we're gonna smash all that

and just give people a sense to know

that they can see themselves up there.

- MAN: Watch your back.

- [GRUNTS]

[ALL CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

KEOGHAN: That's tough for me, man.

Are you cool?

- HENRY: I love you.

- KEOGHAN: I love you, bro.

HAYEK: One thing that I really cherish

is that I really feel that I've created

a special personal relationship

with each one of the characters

and each one of the actors

and some really beautiful friendships.

LEE: I think everyone

found their roles pretty quickly.

Not only in the film, but outside too.

We have come to feel like

a family together.

It felt like we'd known each other.

We felt like I don't know what it was,

but we were very quickly

We were friends.

HENRY: I love them all, honestly,

every single one of my cast members.

I mean, we're absolutely family.

It's unbelievable

how that kinship came along.

I really feel like embracing them

and keeping them together.

I know it's part of my character,

but it's really rubbed off on me.

I feel responsible.

So it was very easy to become a family.

We became a family very, very fast.

- ZHAO: Cut.

- WOMAN: Beautiful.

[CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

[BELL DINGING]

MOORE: For a movie that's about 10

immortal aliens from the planet Olympia,

it's very much about humanity

and what it means to be human,

and what it means to be of this Earth.

And are we stewards of this Earth,

or is this Earth just a stepping stone

to something greater?

I think as a society, both as

a U.S. society and a global society,

we're starting to tackle

what our relationship is to this Earth,

what our relationship is to each other.

I think that's

an important theme to explore

because that's the things

we're facing on a day to day.

You do not turn against your family.

The film actually becomes very much

a celebration of planet Earth,

and a celebration of humanity.

We are learning about

what it means to be mortal,

what it means to be a human being

that has a very limited amount

of time in this universe.

And I think that's a beautiful way

to celebrate humanity.

It is important to stress that

we are all very powerful,

but we are the most powerful when we

come together towards helping this planet.

It's a beautiful message. When we all

come together, we're all stronger,

and that's when we can

actually make an impact.

ZHAO: This film is going to have

a big effect on the future of the MCU

to a point where it makes me

geek out so much as a fan,

that I was able to make a film that could

ripple through the MCU like this.

[UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING]

I feel like, for me,

throughout the journey,

Kevin, Nate, and the whole team,

they catch me when I fall.

When I'm spreading my wings and going

crazy, they're letting me loose.

I learned so much from them.

I'm just so grateful

they gave me this opportunity

to not only pay tribute and respect

of the past of MCU,

but also extend the MCU into the future.

[ENTHRALLING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

And that, for me, is an honor.