March 28, 2019 10:56am PT by Richard Newby
The Oscar winner is taking on her first superhero movie, which suggests there must be more than meets the eye to the Marvel Studios project.
One of Marvel Studios' most mysterious projects is starting to take
shape, and with it comes one of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Wednesday it was revealed that
Angelina Jolie is in talks to join Chloe Zhao's
The Eternals.
While details on the film have been locked up tighter than Odin's vault,
The Eternals,
based on the epic saga by comic book legend Jack Kirby, focuses on
immortal superpowered beings created by the Celestials, the cosmic
giants seen in the Infinity Stones sequence in
Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014). Zhao's film is said to be led by Sersi and Ikaris, two Eternals
whose love story rests at the center of an eons-spanning conflict.
Marvel had no comment on who Jolie might play, but given that she's the
first actor to be cast, it seems likely that she's up for the
transmutation-powered Sersi. Jolie also looks a great deal like many
artists' depiction of the character. But who is Sersi? And what does
Jolie's casting tell us about the film?
Unlike the previous films that have made up the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
The Eternals
is based around largely unknown entities, even for most comic book
readers. This unknown quality plus the fact that Marvel Comics hasn't
made much effort in reprinting Kirby's series or key appearances of the
characters (yet), adds a level of excitement and novelty to Zhao's
feature. As a property that's more situated in the realm of sci-fi and
fantasy than superhero yarns, learning about the Eternals is akin to
taking a deep-dive into J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth history or George
R.R. Martin's Westeros and Essos. While the Guardians of the Galaxy were
mostly unknown to most audiences before 2014, the Eternals are even
more of a deep-dive into the Marvel Universe. When it comes to the
Celestials, the Eternals and their evil counterparts the Deviants
(Thanos' race), this is heavy Marvel mythology, the building blocks of
the universe, and far more complex than anything we've seen Marvel
Studios adapt thus far.
Casting Jolie in a film such as this is a way for Marvel to ground
the audience in a complicated mythology with a familiar face. But it's
also a signal that if an actress on this level of influence, one who has
largely focused on directing and producing of late, is interested, then
it must be something special.
Marvel Studios, with a few exceptions, has long played the game of
star-making when it comes to leading roles, taking talented actors and
actresses known from television and award-season breakouts and making
them household names or reviving the public's perception of them.
There's been a certain tier of actors who first broke box office records
and sold magazine covers in the '90s — Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Leonardo
DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Jolie — who
have somehow managed to avoid being in a superhero film. But it now
seems as though everyone must do at least one. Despite being a favorite
for numerous superhero roles since the '90s and being an early rumored
choice to direct
Captain Marvel, Jolie has stayed away from superhero movies. Sure, she played Lara Croft twice and starred in the comic adaptation of
Wanted (2008), which stripped away the superhero element of Mark Millar's comic, and she went all-in on the costumed villainess in
Maleficent (2014) and its upcoming sequel. But she's never played a true superhero before.
Yet Sersi, if speculation is indeed correct, seems like a fitting
choice for Jolie. Not only does the role provide her with the
opportunity to work with Zhao, whose film
The Rider (2017) makes the filmmakers seem like kindred spirits, but Sersi reflects many of Jolie's own acting choices and interests.
Created by Jack Kirby, Sersi first appeared in
Strange Tales No. 109 (1963), with the name spelled "Circe," then later as Sersi in
The Eternals No. 3 (1976). The distinction in spelling highlights a very important aspect of
The Eternals'
comic book history. While Greek gods and goddesses exist in the Marvel
Universe, they would often let the Olympia-based Eternals represent
their physical forms for the humans on Earth, hence many of the Eternals
sharing names similar to their Greek counterparts. This distinction
sounds like something the MCU will merge and just make the Eternals the
inspiration for the Greek Pantheon, like the Asgardians were the basis
for the Norse Gods. The comics have already done some of this
synthesizing. Sersi inspired the poet Homer, who included her under the
name Circe in
The Odyssey in which she turned men into swine.
Because of her powers to manipulate matter and rearrange molecular
structures, she was often seen as a witch rather than a result of alien
experimentation, allowing her to move across comic book genres.
While most of the Eternals eventually returned to the cosmos in
search of their larger destiny, Sersi remained on Earth, fascinated with
its people and customs. She involved herself in key moments in history,
lived in ancient Rome and Camelot, fought alongside Thor and the
Vikings in the god's youth and later joined the Avengers.
Having lived for millennia, Sersi has taken on many roles on Earth and
has changed her personality as she's seen fit, taking the most out of
her immortal existence. This worldliness and interest in alleviating
human conflict and suffering falls in line with Jolie's own humanitarian
and conservation efforts. As the line between actors and the
superheroes they play grows increasingly thin (see
Chris Evans' political interests, and Gal Gadot and
Brie Larson's movement
for women in film), Sersi may be a way for Jolie to get her message out
to a wider audience, and exhibit godlike powers while doing it.
It's impossible to capture the massive potential and mythology of
The Eternals
through one character and casting choice. But Jolie's involvement at
least gives us a better idea of what's coming down the road post-
Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios boss
Kevin
Feige has promised a very different MCU after April 26, and if Jolie's
casting and Sersi's eons-spanning history and mythology is any
indication, Marvel's storytelling and casting is only growing in
ambition.
March 27, 2019 4:26pm PT by Mia Galuppo
Jolie is doing superheroes.
Angelina Jolie is getting ready to make her first foray into the world of superhero movies.
The Oscar-winning actress is in talks to star in Marvel Studios'
The Eternals, a superhero team adventure feature being directed by Chloe Zhao.
Jolie has chosen the Marvel project based on the Jack Kirby-created
title about super-powered and near-immortal beings known as Eternals and
a more monstrous off-shoot known as the Deviants that were created by
the cosmic beings called Celestials.
While details about the movie are being kept under wraps, sources tell
The Hollywood Reporter
that one aspect to the story involves the love story between Ikaris, a
man fueled by cosmic energy, and Sersi, who relishes moving amongst
humans. It is unclear who Jolie will play. Marvel had no comment.
Zhao, an award-winning indie director behind critical hits
The Rider and
Songs My Brothers Taught Me, will direct from a script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo.
Jolie is currently working with Marvel's parent company Disney on the upcoming
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which was recently moved up to fall 2019 release from spring 2020, and on the animation/live-action hybrid
The One and Only Ivan, which she is also producing. Jolie's upcoming projects also include
Come Away, a fantasy drama from from
Brenda Chapman.
She is repped by UTA and Sloane Offer.
Marvel is expanding the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for their post-“
Avengers: Endgame” Phase 4 and in doing so has scored a huge casting coup:
Angelina Jolie is in talks to star in Marvel’s “
Eternals.”
Critically-acclaimed indie filmmaker
Chloe Zhao, known for “
The Rider” and “
Songs My Brothers Taught Me” is directing the picture based on a script by
Matthew and Ryan Firpo.
The Eternals are a powerful race of near-immortals and space gods
created by the cosmic beings known as the Celestials. Eternals have
existed for millions of years and their advanced biology gives them
incredible strength, long lives, and powers that set them far above
mortal men. There’s also a wicked offshoot known as the Deviants also
created by the Celestials.
THR,
who breaks the news says, while plot details are under wraps, “one
aspect to the story involves the love story between Ikaris, a man fueled
by cosmic energy, and Sersi, who relishes moving amongst humans.”
Right now, it’s unclear who Jolie will play and Marvel’s not commenting.
No other details have been released, but Marvel’s
Kevin Feige likened “The Eternals” to the “
Guardians Of The Galaxy”
in terms of a new fully-formed team earlier this year. “We like the
idea of introducing an ensemble, doing an ensemble movie from the start,
as opposed to building up as we did with the first ‘Avengers,’” he told
Collider in February. “More like Guardians, not tonally, but in terms of introducing a new group of people.
Jack Kirby
did an immense, amazing epic with Eternals that spans tens of thousands
of years, and that’s also something we haven’t really done, which is
why that among many other things post-Endgame, we find appealing.”
Clearly, the group will fit closer into the non-Earth-bound cosmic side of the MCU which includes ‘Guardians’ and “
Captain Marvel” so far.
“The Eternals” is not dated but expected to shoot later this year for
a 2020 release. All will likely be revealed at Comic-Con this summer.
Zhao will have to find some time to promote “
Nomadland,” a
Focus Features film starring
Frances McDormand
she shot in secret in 2018, coming out later this year and expected to
hit the fall film festival circuit. The news of Jolie joining the cast
means more announcements can’t be far behind and perhaps the full team
could be rolled out by San Diego.
****
Director Chloe Zhao is a critics' darling. Her
The Rider was voted Best Film of the Year for 2018 by the National Society of Film Critics (beating
Green Book,
A Star is Born, etc.) Zhao's involvement may be a big factor in Angelina's decision to consider
The Eternals. If
The Eternals starts production later this year, she will only have a short break after
Those Who Wish Me Dead which is already in pre-production for an expected May start.
