Eternals producer Nate Moore revealed that the Marvel Studios film took more inspiration from Jack Kirby’s work than Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.’s run.
The Eternals were created in 1976 by Jack Kirby, one of the leading artists associated with Marvel at the time. While the Eternals are best remembered by modern-day fans thanks to Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.’s iconic run from 2006, it turns out that the upcoming film takes more inspiration from the OG creator’s vision.
Speaking with ComicBook.com on the set of Eternals in 2020, producer Nate Moore revealed how Jack Kirby’s original work on the characters influenced the Marvel Studios film.
“Eternals as you guys probably know, is created by Jack Kirby, 1976. The most popular run, again, I’m telling you guys the things you know, was probably the Neil Gaiman run, right? And I think that’s the expectation of this movie.”
“We’ll probably borrow out from that. But the truth is we actually are more inspired by the Kirby stuff, so we’re kind of going back to the old stuff, both mythologically and how the movie lays out.”
One of the key reasons why the creative team behind Eternals didn’t opt to adapt Neil Gaiman’s run was because of how familiar it was. Gaiman’s miniseries saw the Eternals having their memories wiped and then realizing how they were special, a constant trope seen in the last decade and two of filmmaking.
That’s pretty cool but that’s also the plot of Harry Potter, and I’m Number Four and a lot of movies like that, The Matrix, right? Whereas we thought it would be more interesting to spend the time with the characters who knew exactly who they were, and to track those characters through in our movie, what will be 7,000 years of human history.”
Moore then continued by discussing how it was important to have the Eternals know what they mission is and how that informs the two storylines in the film.
“So again, rather than having sort of access point characters who have to ask a lot of questions, these people know exactly why they’re here and what they’re doing. But we do change some of the Kirby mythology. So our movie place over two time periods. It’s structured, again, not in quality, but in style like Godfather II. There’s a past storyline and the present storyline.”
Here is the synopsis for Eternals:
“The story takes place across two time periods. One storyline is set in the past when they operated as a formidable team and a close family unit. The second storyline is in the present, when the group has fractured and split apart, content to live among humans, hiding in plain sight. The prevailing threat of the Deviants, which once again threatens the existence of mankind, means the Eternals need to put their differences aside and regroup.”
Chloe Zhao directed Eternals from a script she co-wrote with Patrick Burleigh, Kaz Firpo, and Ryan Firpo. The cast of the Marvel Studios project includes Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Salma Hayek as Ajak, and Angelina Jolie as Thena.
Eternals will hit theaters on November 5, 2021. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the upcoming MCU film and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: ComicBook.com
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