Angelina Jolie wants fans to love ‘Eternals’ to send message diversity is the ‘new way forward’

Marvel is not playing around with the highly anticipated release of Eternals. The new MCU film, directed by Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao, marks Marvel’s most inclusive superhero film yet. It's also Angelina Jolie’s superhero debut, which in our opinion, is long overdue.

In a recent interview, Etalk anchor Danielle Graham asked Angelina what drew her to the new phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The star revealed she believes the film will set a new standard for the breadth of representation expected by superhero-buffs and movie lovers alike. 

“I think the reason we all wanted to make the film so much is that we knew what the film was attempting and what the themes would be,” Angelina shared. “We are with the audience, we learned in this process and we’re still on the journey ourselves with everyone.”

“There’s so much about [the film] that are firsts, but we hope that it’s now the new norm,” Jolie explained, alluding to the film's new diverse take on the superhero movies we’re used to. 

Eternals marks the largest introduction of new superheroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe at once. The highly anticipated installment is jam-packed with a dynamic and diverse cast including Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Gemma Chan, and Richard Madden, to name a few. 

The film not only casts more non-white actors than most Marvel movies, but also Marvel's first deaf superhero, Lauren Ridloff's Makkari, and one of Marvel's first openly gay heroes, Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos, who is also one half of Marvel's first same-sex couple. (Tom Hiddleston's Loki and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie are also openly and canonically queer.) 

The heroes who make up the Eternals were sent to Earth by Celestials, an ancient group of godlike beings, 7,000 years ago. What makes these heroes unique is that they are immortal and live to protect the humans of Earth for eternity; even if their bodies are destroyed, they can live on in different ways. The members of the Eternals are skilled warriors that must keep their powers secret, since they live amongst humans, and showcase them only when the world needs saving.

“We had a lot of conversations on set about what was happening and what we were attempting, and I think it’s not as much what we do, but who’s going to accept it” Angelina explained of the thought process behind the film.

“If the fanbase and then people accept this and say, ‘We accept this, we like this,’ then they are sending a message of ‘This is a family we accept, this is a love we accept, this is the diversity we accept as a new way forward.’”

Clearly, Angelina is a big supporter of director Chloé Zhao's vision. After all, Eternals marks Zhao's first film since winning the Best Director Oscar for Nomadland, which made her the second woman and first woman of colour to win the coveted award.

Specifically, Jolie fell in love with her own character, Thena, whom she shared is a shining example of imperfect strength. “I think for a lot of people – certainly a lot of women – we feel we have to almost hide that broken part of ourselves and that if we’re broken, or fragile, or vulnerable, we’re not the strong person we think we should be.” 

“It meant a lot to me that the person that still remains the strongest female fighter is also somebody who is struggling with her mental health and very fragile and vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still strong.”

Eternals hits theatres November 5th, 2021.

BEFORE YOU GO: JoJo Siwa opens up about her break-up for the first time

[video_embed id='2314081']BEFORE YOU GO: JoJo Siwa opens up about her break-up for the first time [/video_embed]