It’s always a source of internal embarrassment for the crew behind any project when a member of the team inadvertently finds themselves appearing in the background of a shot, whether it’s a cameraman or boom operator. And usually, the fans love to jump on these goofs and give them a life of their own, as we’ve seen when The Mandalorian‘s Jeans Guy became a cult hero and even got his own character poster, before Lucasfilm swiftly edited him out of the episode in question.
Yesterday saw Marvel Studios drop a sizzle reel for the entire Phase Four lineup, which included new footage from July’s Black Widow and the very first look at Chloe Zhao’s Eternals. The internet went wild at seeing Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden and the rest of the gang in action at long last, but as you can see from the reactions below, a lot of folks think they’ve spotted a major goof.
Camera Man Seen in Marvel's Eternals Footage: Is This a Mistake? https://t.co/IbcGVDqIjA pic.twitter.com/4OYuyPBjws
— Epicstream (@FantasyandScifi) May 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/Hogwarts_Coffee/status/1389225442322825217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1389225442322825217%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2Fnews%2Fmarvel-eternals-footage-camera-guy-sizzle-reel%2F
BRO HOW THE FUCK DID THIS HAPPEN???? pic.twitter.com/BqXRvsDcG7
— jeremy (@jeremylovesyall) May 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/FloppingHardrn/status/1389250778745954304
The fact that in the Eternals wide shot on the left hand side you can see a camera man 😩 hope that’s cut in the final edit! But literal chills and tears from this whole video. Can’t wait to see all these movies through 2023 🥺
— Brandi Wise (@brandiwise) May 4, 2021
Loved the footage but In one shot camera man has been seen.they should have been careful.
— Farhad Hossain (@farhadishossain) May 3, 2021
Anyone else notice this camera in this shot from The Eternals? Think it's a mistake or actually part of the scene? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/dm4Pv0OGJY
— Bran the Builder (@Br4nTheBuilder) May 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/EzraOrWhatever/status/1389235581360685060
https://twitter.com/playuniverse_/status/1389208795335864322
https://twitter.com/Doodlesandgifs/status/1389303907273388037
It’s hardly on a par with the infamous coffee cup from Game of Thrones, but the cameraman in the background of the Eternals footage is there for a reason. Within the context of the movie, Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo is a big name actor, and the blockbuster is even set to incorporate a Bollywood dance number, while in the comics he’s known to have a team following him around and documenting his every move for posterity.
There’s even a dude with a camcorder spotted shortly afterwards when Kingo is in the desert, making it more clear that it’s all intentional. Of course, not a huge number of fans are overly familiar with Eternals and the associated lore, but it just goes to show how quick people are to point out mistakes that they think happened by accident.