The director Chloé Zhao, celebrated for her independent films Nomadland and The Rider, is offering a candid perspective on her time with a major cinematic franchise. Reflecting on her experience directing Marvel’s Eternals, Zhao suggested that the film’s “unlimited amount of money and resources” posed a unique kind of challenge, one she described as “quite dangerous.”
Her comments come as she promotes her latest film, Hamnet, a period drama that returns her to the kind of grounded storytelling that defined her early career.
The Problem with No Limits
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Zhao drew a direct comparison between her work on Eternals and her latest project. She explained that while the superhero film gave her experience in world-building, it lacked the creative limitations that often fuel artistic vision.
“Eternals had, like, an unlimited amount of money and resources. And here we have one street corner that we can afford, to [stand in for] Stratford…,” she said of the budget for Hamnet. She elaborated on the consequences of such financial freedom: “Eternals didn’t have a lot of limitations, and that is actually quite dangerous. Because we only have that street corner [in Hamnet], suddenly everything has meaning.”
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This perspective offers an interesting commentary on the creative process within the studio system, where a massive budget might paradoxically stifle innovation by removing the necessity of making meaningful, deliberate choices.
A Divisive Film and a Sidelined Cast
While Eternals managed to gross $402 million worldwide in 2021, its critical reception was notably poor, with many fans considering it one of the worst films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film currently holds a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie featured a sprawling ensemble cast, including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, and Barry Keoghan, all making their MCU debuts with the expectation of returning for future projects. However, the film’s reception effectively sidelined those plans. Nanjiani has since revealed that he was set to star in six Marvel projects, along with a video game and a theme park ride, but none of it came to pass.
“I was like, ‘This is going to be my job for the next ten years,'” Nanjiani said on the Working It Out podcast. “I signed on for six movies. I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride. They make you sign on for all this stuff. You’re like, ‘This is the next ten years of my life. Okay, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year, and in between, I’ll do my own little things. Whatever I want to do.’ And then none of that happened.” The experience, he admitted, “shattered me” and led him to seek therapy.
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Zhao herself had previously acknowledged the film’s divisive reception, suggesting that the fusion of her independent film sensibilities with Marvel’s in-house style was a source of the audience’s discomfort.
Her new film, Hamnet, which she co-wrote with author Maggie O’Farrell, stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes. The film, produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, explores the couple’s grief following the death of their 11-year-old son. Hamnet is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
