Salma Hayek thrilled to be the leader of Marvel's ‘The Eternals’

Salma Hayek has proclaimed her excitement at becoming a superhero at 53 in The Eternals, while also providing some extra details on the Marvel blockbuster.

When the Oscar nominated actress was asked by Total Film for her thoughts on her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hayek responded, “At 53 – finally! – I can be a superhero. I play Ajak, who is the leader of the superheroes and all of them are people you would never have imagined. Except for Angelina [Jolie]. Angelina – she was born to be a superhero!”

Read More: The Eternals will have a Bollywood musical number

“The rest of us [Eternals] are like misfits, and we’re all superheroes, and I get to be the leader. That sounds really appropriate! Yes, why not? Let’s go! It just made me feel like, ‘Maybe they’re doing something different.’ And they are.”

The group of misfits that will be joining Jolie and Hayek in the blockbuster include Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan and Kit Harrington, whose characters have been living in secret for thousands of years and have only been called to reunite because of an unexpected tragedy after Avengers: Endgame.

But it wasn’t the impressive roster of eclectic actors that attracted Hayek to The Eternals. Instead, she jumped at the chance to work alongside director Chloe Zhao.

Read More: Marvel actor accidentally confirms which character will be 'The Eternals' gay superhero

“The director is amazing. Did you see her first movie? The Rider? I was blown away. The one thing that excited me the most was the director,” emphatically declared Hayek. “She’s incredible.”

We’ll get to see what the pair create with The Eternals when the superhero epic is finally released on 12 February, 2021.