HOW THE MCU IS EMBRACING
K-CULTURE
By Kayti Burt
Eternals is only the latest MCU film to court Korean culture. We look back at all of the ways Marvel has pulled in K-culture.
In 2014, Marvel headed to Seoul for two weeks of filming on Avengers: Age of Ultron. The capital city would feature as the setting for one of the Avengers’ fights against the titular villain.
In 2015, Age of Ultron featured the character of Helen Cho (played by Korean actress Claudia Kim), a Korean geneticist who created the humanoid body that would eventually become Vision.
In 2017, Marvel chose Seoul as its Asia Press Tour location for Spider-Man: Homecoming. The city would also host the Asia Press Tours for Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
In 2018 Ryan Coogler brought the Black Panther production to Busan, Korea’s second-largest city. The film sees T’Challa, Nakia, and Okoye chase villain Klaue through the seaside city’s busy streets.
In April 2021 Marvel released a trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that featured Jackson Wang’s “This Is My Time.” Wang is a Hong Kong-born rapper who is part of K-pop group GOT7.
In September 2021, Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels officially cast Itaewon Class actor Park Seo-joon in an undisclosed role. The Nia DaCosta film is slated for a 2023 release.
In November 2021, Eternals hit theaters with Korean actor Ma Dong-seok in the central role of Gilgamesh. International audiences may recognize Ma from the hit zombie flick Train to Busan.
Eternals includes “Friends,” a song from mega-popular Korean boy band BTS. The group is also mentioned in the film, confirming their existence in the MCU.