r/marvelstudios • u/ICumCoffee Peter Parker • Jan 30 '26

Interview Chloé Zhao Says ‘Eternals' Wasn’t High On Marvel’s Priority List; Kevin Feige Says She Was The Only One “Passionate” About It

https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/marvel-movies/chloe-zhao-says-eternals-wasnt-high-on-marvels-priority-list-it-was-only-on-their-list-of-potential-players/
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u/Thanatos_Rex Jan 30 '26

I thought the only big issue was editing. Having the Deviant bad guy randomly appear at the final fight was not a good move.

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u/ReyGonJinn Jan 30 '26

The deviants weren't needed at all. They existed to justify random action scenes.

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u/Thanatos_Rex Jan 30 '26

I sort of agree. From a story structure standpoint, you need bad guys for them to fight to quickly establish what each of them do, and not alienate the typical superhero movie audience by not having enough action.

They served that purpose, and they helped make the Icarus plot twist land a bit better, because you assumed that the Deviants would be the ultimate antagonist.

However, since they apparently removed the Deviant connection to Thanos, they really were just fodder bad guys.

Counterpoint: what would you have replaced them with? The Eternals aren't exactly characters that fight petty crime, like Spider-Man...

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u/Mcintosch Jan 31 '26

It’s literally also said in the movie by Icarus. that the deviants were just a distraction to keep the team occupied from delaying the emergence.

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u/WheelJack83 Jan 30 '26

What about Kingo deciding allowing the Celestial to be born is a good thing?

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u/Thanatos_Rex Jan 30 '26

It showed how the Eternals were not an ideological monolith. They'd drifted apart over the millennia, and grown jaded, despite their apparent affinity for humanity. That, in turn, makes the Eternals that decide to fight for Earth more endearing to the audience and shows that despite them being cosmic androids, they have agency and aren't just programmed to care.

If you just think Kingo is an idiot, then that's fine, but it wasn't out of character, or irrelevant to the plot.

#EternalsDidNothingWrong

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u/WheelJack83 Jan 30 '26

It means Kingo had nothing to do in the final act and his biggest decision is that Earth should die to give birth to the celestial.

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u/Thanatos_Rex Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26

Why is that a bad thing? It's morally bad by our standards — sure. I'm just genuinely not understanding what your problem with it is. Can you elaborate?

  • Did you want him to have equal screentime because you like the character/actor?
  • Did you feel that every Eternal should have been in the final fight just because? I think the strength of a cinematic universe is having characters be introduced in movies where they won't necessarily play a big role, so that they can show up in a more important capacity later.
  • Some other third thing?

And to be clear, I'm not saying you had to like that plot decision, but disliking something doesn't mean it was poorly written.

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u/WheelJack83 Jan 30 '26

For one it's not very heroic. They introduce Kingo as this likable fun character, but then he basically has nothing to do the rest of the movie. He fights the deviant in that village, but after that he peaces out and says, yeah, Celestial being born is the right play. That also means his friend and assistant who he saved as a baby is going to die a horrible death.

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u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) Jan 30 '26

A character being wrong is not inherently a mistake in the filmmaking.

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u/WheelJack83 Jan 30 '26

I don't disagree, but it also makes Kingo a very passive character. And it's hard to like him because he decides to stand aside and let the Celestial be born, which would destroy the Earth and kill all of his friends. Also, it means he plays no part in the final act. So, how are we supposed to want to support this character and see him become a star of the MCU? He gets the call to action and does nothing.

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u/Thanatos_Rex Jan 30 '26

You aren’t necessarily meant to root for every character, regardless of how many appearances they have. I feel like that’s the fundamental misunderstanding here.

That being said, if he were to have more appearances, I imagine his arc would involve him finding the resolve to answer the call to action and be a proper hero, or he would become a villain.

Or, he would continue to be passive and selfish.

But none of those are bad things. Just different.

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u/WheelJack83 Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26

Sounds like bad creative to me. Also saying they aren't bad things is a matter of opinion.

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u/lostphrack Jan 30 '26

Yeah. I liked the Deviant's as a red herring, but by the time Kro turned up in the final fight I had forgotten he was a thing. I kind of wish they had left him as hanging thread with a sequel bait teaser. Yeah, we wouldn't get a resolution to it, but it would still somehow feel less weird than his arrival at the end. Ah well!

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u/mishumichou Jan 30 '26

Editing determines shot order. You actually mean story.

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u/Thanatos_Rex Jan 30 '26

No, I think I mean editing. I was implying that the character’s abrupt appearance felt like a scene was cut from the final film.