Marvel Studios: Assembled — 10 Reveals About The Making of Eternals

Marvel’s hit documentary series, Assembled, is back for a close look at the making of Chloé Zhao’s Eternals, with plenty of behind-the-scenes information and insightful interviews with the cast. The 50-minute episode explores Zhao’s creative process, the film’s technical construction, and what each actor brought to their particular role.

As with any installment of Assembled, this new episode brings plenty of shocking and interesting reveals about exactly what went down on the Eternals set. For anybody interested in filmmaking, or even just fans wanting to learn more about their favorite characters, Assembled is a fun place to start.

Zhao Pitched Eternals With A Poem

At the beginning of the episode, director Chloé Zhao reveals that part of her pitch to Marvel Studios executives involved a famous poem from William Blake. The poem, which speaks of holding ‘eternity in an hour,’ was believed by Zhao to be a perfect description of the film’s tone.

The pitch obviously worked wonders, as Zhao reveals that she was offered the chance to direct the movie immediately. Her poetic mind clearly fits this universe perfectly, as she displays an extremely insightful and philosophical narrative in the finished product of Eternals.

The Deviants Were Designed To Evolve (Like Humans)

In a candid conversation with one of Eternals‘ visual effects designers, the documentary reveals that the form of the deviants was created to match the evolution of mankind throughout the Eternals’ time on Earth. In the film’s earliest scenes, the deviants are undeveloped and look almost like dinosaurs – but by the end of the film, they’ve molded a much more bipedal, humanoid form.

The visual effects designers explain that this choice was important to demonstrate both the scale of the deviants and their increasing intelligence (which really sets them up as a dangerous threat). The fact that they’re so similar to humans in their evolutionary journey raises plenty of interesting questions about their existence.

Kumail Nanjiani Had To Take Dance Lessons

In order to prepare for Kingo’s introductory Bollywood scene, comedian Kumail Nanjiani revealed that he had to take lessons with a dancing coach on set. He explains that he had no prior experience with dancing, and that since the Bollywood number is his character’s very first introduction in the modern-day, he had to get it right.

Kingo’s introduction is undoubtedly one of the funniest and most memorable scenes in the movie, so it makes sense that Nanjiani and Zhao were so desperate to make it work. This Eternals behind-the-scenes fact is not only fitting to Kingo’s character but also sounds totally believable with Nanjiani’s fun personality.

Zhao Was An MCU Fan Even Before Eternals

Early into the documentary, director Chloé Zhao admitted that she has always been a fan of the MCU and that working on a Marvel movie had always been an ambition of hers. She explains that Eternals immediately felt like the right fit for her, and that she was naturally overjoyed to be working with such an iconic story.

Although Eternals hasn’t been the most critically acclaimed movie in the MCU so far, it’s indisputable that Zhao brought her own unique style to the story that clearly sets it apart from the other entries that came before it. It’s this clear identity and unique narrative that lead many to label Eternals as one of the most underrated MCU movies.

The Cast Met For The First Time At Comic-Con

In 2019, Marvel Studios took to the stage at San Diego Comic-Con to unveil the cast of their upcoming Eternals movie to a room of eagerly excited MCU fans. Little did they know, however, that this was also the first day the cast had all come together in person since being cast in the film.

In the documentary, several members of the cast fondly recall how awkward and uncomfortable it was being thrown into the deep end in that way (though they all agree that the chemistry between the entire ensemble was present from the first moment). They admit that something ‘just clicked,’ which is probably a result of Zhao’s endeavor to cast actors and actresses who already embody certain traits of their characters.

Zhao Believes That Sprite Is The Most Mature Eternal

When asked to describe the individual heroes within Eternals, Zhao claims that in her mind, Sprite is the most mature and experienced. Although the character only has the appearance of a child, Zhao believes that the problems she’s faced as a result of her appearance have made her more mature and resilient than the others.

The crew also reveals that they spent a lot of time reading Jack Kirby’s original comics whilst planning the movie, so it makes sense that the film takes on board many things that only comic fans would know about characters like Sprite. Zhao clearly understands her characters deeply, so her assertion that Sprite is the most mature can be taken pretty seriously.

The Domo Has A Religious Design

The Domo is the ship that the Eternals have been traveling with and living in during their stay on Earth. In a short conversation with the film’s production designer, they revealed that much of the design is inspired by Christian and Islam traditions.

She explains that both she and Zhao had many conversations about the geometrics of the ship, and eventually reached the conclusion that circles and triangles play an important role in many known religions on Earth (so it would make sense for the Eternals ship to adopt some of these symbols since it’s been around for thousands of years in this culture).

Most Scenes Were Shot On-Location

Although most MCU movies opt to shoot their exterior locations in the studio, Zhao and the team decided that it was important to the story for them to film their sequences out in the real world. The documentary explores the challenges that this posed for Zhao, the visual effects team, and even the actors.

One of the examples shown in Assembled is the sequence in which the Eternals meet Druig in the Amazon rainforest. Although these scenes weren’t actually filmed in the Amazon, they were shot in a real-lie forest rather than a green-screened studio. Zhao explains that it was important for her actors to actually engage with the environment to allow them to connect with the characters they were playing.

Zhao Made The Actors Feel Important

One of the most important parts of a director’s job is ensuring that the actors always feel comfortable on set to allow them to give the best performances possible. Several members of the Eternals cast admit that Zhao put special effort into making them feel important and valued whilst they were shooting, which led them to truly embrace their characters.

Both Gemma Chan and Brian Tyree Henry note that Zhao’s input on-set was extremely important in allowing them to better understand their respective characters and realize exactly what direction the story was taking them in. It’s for this reason that Eternals‘ all-star cast feels so authentic and compelling on screen.

Brian Tyree Henry Cried When He First Saw His Super-Suit

In a surprisingly open and vulnerable moment, actor Brian Tyree Henry admitted that he found it extremely difficult to look at himself when he was trying on Phatos’ suit for the first time. He explained that he was nervous about the way the suit would make him look, as it was important that young children would be able to see themselves in his character.

Henry went on to explain just how happy he was when he finally saw himself in costume, breaking down in tears and thanking everybody who had been involved in the design of the costume. It was clearly very important that his character appeared both human and superhuman, so that young kids around the world could relate to the diverse roster of heroes that the film offers.

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