The Eternals (film)

In April 2018, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated that the studio was actively developing a film based on the Marvel comic book series Eternals, created by Jack Kirby, to release in their Phase Four slate of films. Marvel had met with multiple screenwriters, and was believed to be focusing on the character Sersi.[16] Marvel set Kaz and Ryan Firpo to write the script a month later,[17] with their outline including a love story between the characters Sersi and Ikaris.[5] In June, Feige said Marvel was interested in exploring the "ancient aliens kind of sci-fi trope" of the Eternals being the inspiration for myths and legends throughout the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[18]

During late August, Marvel's director search for The Eternals narrowed to a shortlist that included Chloé Zhao—who had also been in the running to direct Marvel's Black Widow (2020)—Nicole Kassell, Travis Knight, and the pair of Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra.[5] Zhao was chosen to direct the film a month later, with Marvel moving quickly to secure her after being impressed by a meeting with her that made them concerned she might take on a different big-studio project instead.[5][19] Marvel considered The Eternals to be a "perfect transition" into its next phase of films along with projects such as Captain Marvel (2019),[19] as it allowed the studio to cast a diverse group of actors to portray the various Eternals.[5] In February 2019, Feige reiterated that Marvel was interested in the characters due to Kirby's "immense, amazing epic with Eternals that spans tens of thousands of years" in the comics; because they wanted to create more ensemble films "from the start" like Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), rather than building up to an ensemble crossover as they did with The Avengers (2012); and to introduce "characters that the majority of the world has never heard of" as they did with the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.[20]

Angelina Jolie joined the cast in March 2019, reportedly as Sersi,[21][9] with Kumail Nanjiani and Don Lee cast in undisclosed roles the next month.[9][22] At that time, the film was expected to feature Marvel Studios' first gay superhero.[23] In May, Richard Madden entered negotiations for the role of Ikaris,[24] and by the following month, Salma Hayek had entered early negotiations for an undisclosed role.[25] In July, Variety reported that the cast included Jolie, Madden, and Millie Bobby Brown,[26] but Brown quickly denied that she had been cast.[27] Later that month at San Diego Comic-Con, Feige officially announced the film, with a release date of November 6, 2020. He confirmed the casting of Jolie, Nanjiani, Lee, Madden, and Hayek, revealing their roles to be Thena, Kingo, Gilgamesh, Ikaris, and Ajak, and also announced the casting of Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, and Lia McHugh as Sprite.[14] Following the announcement, Feige confirmed that one of these characters would be an LGBTQ character in the film;[28] actor Haaz Sleiman later revealed that Phastos is the superhero that is depicted as gay in the film, with Sleiman portraying the character's husband. The pair have a child in the film. Sleiman felt it was "important [for the film] to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be" rather than the "sexual or rebellious" depiction of queer people in some previous media.[13]

By the film's official announcement in July 2019, principal photography had begun at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.[4][29] Ben Davis served as director of photography.[30] The following month, Gemma Chan and Barry Keoghan were in talks to join the cast.[8][31] Chan previously portrayed Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel, but reports noted that she was potentially being looked at by Marvel to play a separate character in this film.[8] Chan and Keoghan were confirmed to be cast at the D23 Expo in August, in the roles of Sersi and Druig, respectively, along with Kit Harington as Dane Whitman.[7] By early November, filming took place in the Canary Islands. The filming crew, including Jolie and Madden, had to be evacuated from a shooting location on the island of Fuerteventura due to an explosive device found there, thought to be a remnant armament from a Nazi base.[32] In early January 2020, filming took place outside the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in Oxford, England,[33] as well as Hampstead Heath in London.[34] Filming wrapped on February 4, 2020.[35]

In March 2020, Scanline VFX, one of the companies working on the film's visual effects, confirmed that they would be working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36] In early April, Disney shifted much of their Phase Four slate of films due to the pandemic, moving The Eternals' release date to February 12, 2021.[37]