Chloé Zhao Warns: Unlimited Marvel Resources Can Be ‘Dangerous’

Reflecting on Eternals, Zhao credits the film for teaching world-building—but says its virtually limitless budget stripped away meaning, a lesson she turned into artistic gold while crafting her intimate Shakespearean drama Hamnet.

Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao is candidly rethinking her time on Eternals, Marvel Studios’ sprawling and divisive cosmic epic, as she prepares to release her next project, Hamnet. In a recent interview, Zhao described how working with virtually infinite resources in Eternals taught her vital lessons she’s applying to her more restrained, emotionally rooted period drama.

“Eternals prepared me for Hamnet because it’s world-building. Before that, I had only done films that existed in the real world,” Zhao reflected. “I also learned what to do and not to do—what’s realistic and what isn’t.”

But she cautions that creative freedom without limits can become dangerous. “Eternals had, like, an unlimited amount of money and resources… Eternals didn’t have a lot of limitations, and that is actually quite dangerous,” she said. In contrast, on Hamnet, “we only have that street corner” to stand in for Stratford—and every detail achieves deeper meaning.

Released in 2021, Eternals became one of the MCU’s most polarizing entries—earning a modest 47% Rotten Tomatoes score and grossing about $402 million globally. Despite its mixed reception, the film gave Zhao her first foray into mythic, cosmic storytelling, a bridge she’s now crossing with Hamnet.

Set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2025, Hamnet is an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel exploring Shakespeare’s family and the profound loss of their son Hamnet. It stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, and is backed by creative heavyweights Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, whose trust in Zhao’s vision allowed her to lean into her signature emotional realism.

Meanwhile, Eternals actor Kumail Nanjiani has admitted that the film’s lackluster reception derailed his expectations—and affected him personally. On the Working It Out podcast, he revealed he had signed a contract anticipating six MCU films, a video game, and even a theme-park ride—but none of it ever materialized. Its negative reviews, he says, left him “shattered,” pushing him to seek therapy.