Eternals’ Superman Reference Explained By Director

The Superman connection in Eternals is explained by director Chloe Zhao. The cast and crew of the upcoming Marvel Studios film are busy performing promotional rounds for the project after the world premiere.

While they are still unable to discuss certain aspects of the film that include spoilers, Eternals’ marketing provides plenty of stuff to debate. This features the unexpected name drop of Krypton’s Last Son.

Following Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel Studios will introduce the Eternals, a new group of superheroes. They were sent to Earth thousands of years ago by the Celestials to defend mankind from the Deviants. Angelina Jolie will play Thena, Richard Madden will play Ikaris, Lauren Ridloff will play Makkari; Brian Tyree Henry will play Phastos, Salma Hayek will play Ajak; Lia McHugh will play Sprite, Don Lee will play Gilgamesh, Kumail Nanjiani will play Kingo; Gemma Chan will play Sersi, and Barry Keoghan will play Druig.

The gang reassembles after thousands of years apart in anticipation of the coming Emergence. There’s a lot to be thrilled about with Eternals, especially since it’s intended to add to the MCU’s lore. However, its direct connection to Superman is one of the most talked-about aspects of it. According to a new featurette, Phastos’ son mistook Ikaris for the DC hero since they both have the ability to fly and shoot laser beams out of their eyes.

Zhao Says The DC Characters Are Fictional

In a new interview with Kevin McCarthy, Zhao discusses this scene, explaining that it’s their way of honouring the Man of Steel mythology; as Eternals is primarily about the tales surrounding the film’s eponymous characters. She goes on to add that Phastos’ son may have heard about Superman someplace, but she doesn’t completely dismiss the possibility that he is a genuine superhero in the MCU. Watch the complete video:

Zhao also noted that Gilgamesh is a big admirer of Batman movies, which; together with her comments about Phastos’ kid learning about Superman; makes it reasonable to assume that both DC heroes are fictional characters in the MCU. This makes sense, given Marvel Studios’ penchant for referencing real-world events in their films.

It’s also why they focus on worldwide cities and locales for their projects, such as New York and Germany. In any case, the inclusion of the Justice League in the franchise raises a slew of new questions. To begin with, why didn’t they assist the Avengers in their battle against Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thanos (Josh Brolin)?

Overall, it’s fascinating that Marvel Studios permitted Zhao to make Superman and Batman references in Eternals. Since they first began publishing comic books in the mid-twentieth century, DC and Marvel have maintained a friendly rivalry. That competition has made its way to the big screen; with both Warner Bros. and Disney developing superhero franchises based on the same characters. For what it’s worth, it appears to work in the big picture; as early reviews of Eternals have been overwhelmingly good.