i completely agree with all the ppl dunking on Feige's comments about Chloe Zhao, but also: this is very explicitly Marvel's marketing ttrategy for Eternals, and has been for almost a year. he just phrased it badly this time.

like, last september Zhao also discussed Eternals in terms of how much creative freedom she received, and how she shot a lot of "magic hour" material, ie outdoors at sunrise/sunset. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/director-chloe-zhao-arrives-with-hot-oscar-contender-nomadland-and-next-years-eternals

Marvel's PR strategy is to pick one or two ~concepts for each movie and just hammer home those ideas for months & months before the film comes out.

for Eternals, it's the fact that Zhao is a celebrated indie filmmaker who is filming in natural light instead of greenscreen.

and honestly this was already working very well, and will *continue* to work well, because people like the idea of a Marvel movie with actual artistic merit! Feige just messed up by phrasing the same talking point in a way that makes him sound like an android.

btw this strategy is extraordinarily effective within MCU fandom, because if you criticize one of the movies, stans will often reply with what sounds like advertising copy from Marvel's PR campaigns.

of course this also highlights the way Marvel purposefully lowers expectations to make the MCU look more impressive. filming outdoors is groundbreaking! a retro sitcom pastiche is "weird!" introducing a gay cameo character is risky & bold! etc. https://twitter.com/MinovskyArticle/status/1387450429945098249

obviously we have different expectations for $150 million blockbusters vs indie films, but nonetheless: it's not exactly unheard-of for big hollywood movies to include natural lighting & location shoots! for example... fucking star wars lol.

p.s. i am actually looking forward to Eternals! Chloe Zhao's vision sounds far more appealing than anything we saw from the Russo Bros. but the way Feige talks about her "signature style" is absurd.