Chloé Zhao Reveals Whether Any Eternals Got Snapped

Contains spoilers for "Eternals"

When Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," the entire future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was changed in an instant. While significant problems arose when half of all life in the universe was temporarily erased, Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) managed to mostly undo all that in "Avengers: Endgame." However, the snap also created an endless series of problems for anyone looking to expand the reaches of Marvel storytelling moving forward. Indeed, as a direct result of the snap, questions like "Why didn't X character help during the war with Thanos?" or "Where was X character during the Blip?" are inevitably going to be asked by fans whenever someone new is introduced.

While Marvel's "Eternals" sees Sersi (Gemma Chan) explain early on in its runtime why the film's titular team didn't help fight Thanos, the group's whereabouts during the five-year period between Thanos and the Hulk's snaps remain unclear. Were any of them turned to dust like half of all other living creatures? Or does something about them make the Eternals impervious to such attacks?

With that in mind, during an interview with CinemaBlend, "Eternals" director Chloé Zhao was asked point-blank if any of the film's (mostly) immortal beings were "dusted" as a result of Thanos' snap.

The many moving pieces of the Marvel Cinematic Universe often make it difficult for any individual filmmaker or creative executive to directly answer questions about something that has happened off-screen in the MCU. However, when Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend posed a question to "Eternals" director Chloé Zhao about how Thanos' snap affected the film's central team, the filmmaker responded, "Well, I can't say this out loud, but ... if you think about what the Celestials told them about themselves, technically they can't get blipped."

Zhao giving a relatively direct answer to such a specific question about unanswered Marvel lore is certainly surprising, especially given how much the studio prides itself on its secrecy (no matter how many MCU spoilers Tom Holland lets slip). That said, what exactly is Zhao referencing in her answer?

Well, in "Eternals," the film's eponymous group lives for thousands of years thinking that their combined purpose is to protect humans. However, it is ultimately revealed by Arishem, a Celestial, that the Eternals' only purpose has been to help Earth thrive as a Celestial incubator. At the end of the film, most of the Eternals decide to betray Arishem and help protect Earth from destruction. Based on Zhao's comments, it would appear that the Eternals being the immortal creations of the Celestials means they are safe from the kind of targeted attack that Thanos made against the living population of the universe.