Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed that Gemma Chan's character Sersi is the lead in The Eternals. The highly anticipated film is part of Phase Four of the MCU and is based on the comics created by Jack Kirby in 1976.
Marvel’s Eternals takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame and follows a group of immortal heroes created by the Celestials, who have been secretly living on Earth for over 7000 years. The Eternals must reunite to defend Earth from the Deviants. The upcoming film was directed by recent Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and stars Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, and Chan as Sersi. Eternals will notably feature the first deaf and openly gay superheroes in MCU history.
Chan previously starred opposite Brie Larson in Captain Marvel as Minn-Erva, a member of Starforce who proved to be a foe for Carol Danvers. However, her role was minimal compared to Jude Law's antagonistic Yon-Rogg, though Chan will seemingly have a more substantial part to play in Eternals. During a revealing interview with Variety, Feige stated that Chan's Sersi is the lead character in the film. “So for Sersi, for instance — and if there was a lead in this ensemble, it is Sersi, it is Gemma Chan,” said Feige. The Marvel boss asserted that Chan, who is best known for her supporting roles on Doctor Who and Sherlock, was best suited to play the leading role. Sersi first appeared in 1976’s The Eternals #3 and was created by Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein, and Jack Kirby. In the comics, the character can manipulate matter and works as a museum curator on Earth.
Feige also revealed that Zhao was considered to direct Black Widow, but she took herself out of the running for unknown reasons. When Eternals came around, Zhao was on the list of potential filmmakers they wanted to hire. He noted that her first pitch was the best he’s ever heard -- it featured “a very bold and very ambitious sprawling 7000-year story of humanity and our place in the cosmos.”
Feige praised Zhao’s vision and how she fought to film in practical locations, saying, "it was so beautiful, and I had to keep saying, ‘This is right out of a camera; there’s no VFX work to this at all!’” Zhao previously stated that she drew on 2015’s The Revenant for Eternals because it shot in natural light and avoided CG backgrounds.
While Eternals wrapped filming in 2020, Zhao is still making tweaks to the final cut. The 38-year-old filmmaker is in the final stretch of post-production and is editing the film alongside Craig Wood and Dylan Tichenor. Wood has a history with Marvel, as he previously co-edited Ant-Man and the Wasp and James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
The Eternals is scheduled to be released in theatres on November 5, 2021.
Source: Variety