Eternals Director Chloé Zhao Reveals Alternate Ending That Was Changed Because It Was “Bleak”
Eternals, the 26th MCU movie that introduced us to a new team based on Marvel’s Comics was released last November. The movie received mixed reviews and grossed $401 million against its $200 million budget.
While the fans are waiting for the rewatch of the movie on Disney+ next month, director Chloé Zhao, who earlier this year won the Academy Award for her movie Nomadland, now revealed that the ending of Eternals we saw wasn’t the ending she pitched. The original ending of the movie was changed because it was described as bleak, which didn’t sit well with the whole idea of Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it probably wouldn’t sit well with the fans either.
“I have never made a film where the ending is what I wrote! You find it in the edit. Editing is a third of the filmmaking process, and when you show it to people, that’s when you find the ending. I don’t think I’ve made a single film where the opening and ending stay the same as the script, just because the scenes are fluid as we shoot. And we actually had another ending that is really bleak. Bleak. I didn’t hate it, because I’m used to films that are more melancholy. But I don’t think it went down well with audiences. It used to end with everybody back on the ship, minds erased and just going on to another planet, like The Twilight Zone. I remember when it goes to black, everyone was like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ And also, it’s the MCU, and you want to be excited for what’s next.” — Chloé Zhao for Empire
Eternals ended on quite a note. The movie started with the titular group of 10 superheroes, and at the end – three of them are dead, three of them were taken by Arishem, three of them met Eros, Thanos’ much more handsome brother, on their ship, and one left the team for good. Although the ending of the movie announced that Eternals will return, who knows when, where, how, or even which is that going to be.
Eternals will be streaming on Disney+ on January 12, 2022.
