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Before she directed the Oscar-nominated Shakespearean tragedy Hamnet, Chloé Zhao had a soliloquy-worthy crisis of her own. The Oscar winner, and helmer of the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuation, New Sunnydale, says that her dark night of the soul came shortly after a gig that, on its surface, might seem like a giant stepping stone in one's career - that is, Zhao's debut into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 2021's still-controversial Eternals. But according to the director, it was this film that kept her away from the craft for a while, having undergone a "mid-life crisis" because of it.

This was a revelation Zhao made during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, joined by some of the folks who helped her make the critically acclaimed Hamnet. Specifically, those folks were producers Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, Nicolas Gonda, and Steven Spielberg. Yes, we're talking about that Steven Spielberg, who it may interest you to learn, was originally considered as Hamnet's director. In fact, after he declind the project, it was Splieberg that sent the script to Zhao.

Watch the interview to hear Zhao's "initial pause" when she first received the script. Apparently, the experience she had on Eternals had Zhao taking a moment to aske herself, "Can I handle this." In the end, that answer was obviously yes, but not before getting some encouragement from the people involved.

"A big part of it," Zhao says of her eventual accomplishment in the director's chair, "Was to look at this team that you’re seeing on this Zoom call [...] They come from very different experiences… but they perfectly complement each other… and that started to give me more confidence."

 And to Zhao's point, the people on the call with her seem like their encouragement netted something special

"When you’re seeing a movie — especially a movie like Hamnet," says Spielberg himself, "Which deals with love and loss and hope and happiness and deep grieving — when you put that out there in a theater, everyone becomes a community… all of us become brothers and sisters, and there are no differences between us because we are all in communion with the story that Chloé has told."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale is expected on Hulu sometime in 2026.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters