Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images
The Oscar-winningNomadlanddirector’s superhero movieEternalshit theaters in November, delivering a tonally and stylistically different installment in the massively popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking withEmpiremagazine, Zhao explained that the timing, after being delayed due to the pandemic, may have had an impact.
“Eternalswas planned to be released soon after [2019’sAvengers]Endgame, and not at a time when everyone is having an existential crisis. The film itself is about existential crisis, both for humanity and God. So I think we definitely felt it was coming,” she said of the mixed response.
“But,” she continued, “there are also people who are more comfortable with the order of their world [being] disturbed. And then they look at our love-child and go, ‘Oh! This touches different sides of me!’ I like that.”
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The filmmaker said she “completely understand[s] the divisivenesscoming from criticsand the fans” because “when you take this to extremes that are seen as opposition — the world I come from and the world of Marvel, that has been divided in a way that’s so unfair and unfortunate — and to merge the way we did, I actually see the reaction as a testament to how much we had merged with each other; how uncomfortable that might make people feel.”
RELATED VIDEO:Angelina JolieBrings Kids Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox toEternalsPremiere
Eternals, now streaming on Disney+, starsAngelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff and Brian Tyree Henry.
At the end of the day, Zhao said every project is a learning opportunity and she doesn’t venture out to please everyone in her creative process.
“I think the need for consensus is a hindrance for any authentic creative process. Just like it’s a hindrance for living an authentic life as a person,” she told Empire. “I have been on the receiving end of somewhat consensus and divisiveness about my work. Neither of them has any real influence on me as an artist, because every time I’m lucky enough to create, I learn from the process.”
source: people.com
