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‘Eternals’ Director Chloé Zhao on Having the First Love Scene and LGBTQ Relationship in the MCU

By Steven Weintraub

Published Oct 26, 2021

She also talks about the deleted scenes and reveals how many will be on the Blu-ray.

With Eternals opening in theaters November 5th, I recently had the opportunity to speak with director Chloé Zhao about making the Marvel movie. During the interview, she talked about how she was able to be the one to show a love scene and the first LGBTQ relationship in the MCU, her first cut of the film, testing the movie to see what was working, how the Blu-ray will include four deleted scenes, what was the last thing she cut before picture locking, and who would have won if the Eternals had fought Thanos.

As you’ve seen in the trailers, Marvel’s Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man and have lived quietly on our planet for 7,000 years. But when the creatures they had come to Earth to defeat mysteriously return, the group is forced to unite to try and save humanity. Eternals boasts a great ensemble cast, and it stars Gemma Chan as humankind-loving Sersi, Richard Madden as the all-powerful Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as cosmic-powered Kingo, Lia McHugh as the eternally young, old-soul Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as the intelligent inventor Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as the super-fast Makkari, Barry Keoghan as aloof loner Druig, Don Lee as the powerful Gilgamesh, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Salma Hayek as the wise and spiritual leader Ajak, and Angelina Jolie as the fierce warrior Thena. The film was written by Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo. Kevin Feige and Nate Moore are the producers, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and Kevin de la Noy serving as executive producers.

Watch what Chloé Zhao had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Chloé Zhao

If the Eternals had fought Thanos on their own could they have won?
How did she pull off being the one to show a love scene and the first LGBTQ relationship in the MCU?
How long was her first cut of Eternals?
Will fans see an extended cut or just deleted scenes?
How they tested the film to see how it was working.
Zhao says they have 4 deleted scenes for the Blu-ray.