Kevin Feige first signaled his intentions to bring Eternals to the big screen in early 2018 when he confirmed the project was in active development, but the majority of the ensemble cast wasn’t announced until the following summer during Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con Panel.
As it turns out, Salma Hayek almost gave the game away in a hotel before the various members of the roster were trotted out onstage to rapturous applause. Director Chloé Zhao warned her that people are so invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that they could be listening through the walls, which sounds ridiculous but also contains a heavy element of truth.
During a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Hayek admitted that she was forced to tone things down once Zhao outlined how easy it is for such closely-guarded secrets to be revealed ahead of time.
“I remember talking to the director for the first time in a hotel room where they do that in San Diego where all the people dress like Halloween when it’s not Halloween. The whole thing was completely surreal. And talking to her, I’m Mexican, I talk loud, and I start asking her questions, and she’s like, ‘Shhh!’. I’m like, ‘What?!’. She says, ‘They can hear us’. And in the script, it’s a secret. ‘Next door! You have to be very careful. Everybody knows that we’re talking about the new Marvel movie, they could be listening through the walls’. She was serious because they actually do it. So it was really weird. But I love it now, I feel at home.”
Hayek also revealed that Samuel L. Jackson figured out that she was involved with the MCU when they were shooting Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard without the actress even having to say a word, so even if she does keep her mouth shut the veil of secrecy isn’t maintained for very long. Eternals comes to theaters next Friday, where it’s looking to offset disappointing critical returns with a healthy showing at the box office.