Last week came a featurette for Chloe Zhao’s “Eternals” which contained a pop-culture reference from a character, nothing new in terms of Marvel Studios features which do this all the time.
One difference this time though is it is a direct reference to one of the most famous character’s of Marvel’s rival DC. The clip sees a child referring to the Eternal Ikaris (Richard Madden) as ‘Superman,” saying: “Dad, that’s Superman! With the cape, and you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes” to which Ikaris responds he doesn’t wear a cape.
It’s not a one-off either, as another scene has one character calling another ‘Alfred’ in reference to Batman’s butler Alfred Pennyworth because one of the characters is a pop-culturue fanatic and a Batman fan.
That has led to plenty of reaction from fandom about these moments which indicates that DC characters are fictional superheroes in this universe while the Marvel ones like Thor and Black Panther are real. Speaking with Variety, Zhao says:
“I take responsibility for that. You write it on the page, show it to Kevin, if he doesn’t say anything, that’s a go. I don’t think there was a conversation. Not really, except, he goes, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’
We’re playing on a genre that draws so much from mythology, and Superman, for example, was created in the comics and also by these brilliant filmmakers along the way – they’re modern reinterpretations of a mythical characters that exist in different cultures. Ikaris is our interpretation of it. It doesn’t mean we can’t pay tribute to the really iconic version that we’ve all grown to love and has influenced us.”
She goes on to say everything that is referenced in this film either in dialogue or visually is a tribue and “out of love and our admiration for these characters.” “Eternals” opens in cinemas next week.