Eternals' director Chloé Zhao has confirmed that the take on Superman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel was a big inspiration for Richard Madden's Ikaris.
As reported by THR, Zhao was speaking to Film Actu when she revealed that Zack Snyder's version of Superman really impacted her as Snyder "approached this myth in an authentic and very real way."
"Of all the modern interpretations of Superman, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel inspired me the most because he approached this myth in an authentic and very real way… this film left a strong impression on me," Zhao said.
Besides the obvious similarities Ikaris and Zack Snyder's Superman share, including the ability to fly, heat vision, super strength, and near-invulnerability, they also both struggle with what it means to be "human" when they are anything but, the weight of their past, and who they truly are.
These two characters also come from two films – Eternals and Man of Steel – that are very divisive films. As of this writing, Man of Steel is sitting at 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and Eternals is at 48%. Eternals is actually the first MCU film to have a "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, the audience scores for these movies show two stories that have resonated with many. Man of Steel is currently at 75% and Eternals is at 81%.
In our Eternals review, we said that it "is beautifully shot and terrifically acted, but it bites off more than it can chew in its third act."
For more on Eternals, check out how Zhao only needed 25 minutes to film the MCU's first sex scene, our explainer of the ending, mid-credits scene, and post-credits scene, and our look at the history of the Eternals and all the other members of the team.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.