Overview

• Zhao says Eternals offered “an unlimited amount of money and resources” with few boundaries, which she now considers “quite dangerous” for creativity.
• She credits the superhero project with teaching world-building lessons that prepared her for Hamnet, including clearer sense of what is realistic on screen.
• For Hamnet, Zhao contrasts one affordable street corner standing in for Stratford with Eternals’ scale, arguing that scarcity sharpens intention in every shot.
• Eternals divided critics and fans despite a reported $236.2 million budget and about $402 million worldwide, underscoring the tension between scale and reception.
• Hamnet, produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes and starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, is slated to premiere at TIFF in September before a November 27 theatrical release, as Marvel signals no immediate plans for an Eternals sequel.