Major spoilers ahead for the epic film's biggest reveals!
Spoiler warning! Do not proceed if you haven't watched Marvel's Eternals yet!
As if Marvel's Eternals wasn't epic enough, there's tons to unpack in the post-credits scenes!
Following the world-saving adventures of the newest team of MCU heroes, two post-credits scenes set up characters from the comic canon bound to have major implications on Phase 4 and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The mid-credits scene sees the trio of Thena (Angelina Jolie), Druig (Barry Keoghan) and Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), in space after taking off in the Domo at the end of the film. They're discussing the concerning fact that they haven't been able to contact the other Eternals when suddenly, flashes of bright lights appear on their ship, followed by two characters. The first is Pip the Troll, voiced by Patton Oswalt, who heralds the arrival of his many-titled companion: Eros, played by Harry Styles!
The hero known as Starfox, Eros is also introduced as the brother of Thanos, the "Knave of Hearts," and the defeater of Black Roger. He takes a moment to compliment Thena's legendary beauty before issuing an ominous warning about Sersi (Gemma Chan) and the others, who have been summoned before Arishem for judgment over the group's decision to kill the newborn Celestial, Tiamut,
"Your friends are in big trouble," he tells the group. "And we know where to find them."
Marvel fans will have to wait and see how Eros' proclamation plays out -- the credits also promise that "The Eternals will return," but no sequel film or follow-up has been officially announced yet. However, it seems that this won't be a one-off appearance for Styles.
"Harry as Eros was very much a package deal for me,” Eternals director Chloe Zhao told Deadline following the big reveal. "I pitched the idea of Pip the Troll and Eros to Kevin awhile back and I love the idea of exploring an Eternal who is beyond Titan and who may have influenced Thanos throughout the years the same way Eternals influenced us, earthlings."
"And then, it wasn’t like I suggested Eros, and let’s go find actors. I kept tabs on Harry since Dunkirk, I thought he was very interesting," she added. "After meeting him I realized he is that character—the same way I cast the rest of my cast. There’s so much of Eros in him. For me, if he says yes and Kevin [Feige] says yes then it’s a go. And I’m very happy they both did."
As for the post-credits scene, it features one reveal that some had predicted prior to the film's release: the official confirmation that Kit Harington's character, Dane Whitman, is set to face his destiny as the Marvel character Black Knight. In the comics, Whitman inherits a cursed sword, the Ebony Blade, and takes up the mantle of Black Knight, fighting alongside various incarnations of the Avengers and other Marvel heroes.
In the Eternals post-credits scene, Harington is weighing whether to wield the sword in order to help his girlfriend, Sersi, after she has been taken by Arishem. Sersi and the Black Knight have had many romantic entanglements throughout the comic canon, so there's plenty to speculate on as far as when and how we might see those characters again.
However, the scene also secretly introduced yet another highly anticipated MCU star! As Dane is considering his destiny, a voice from off-screen asks if he is truly ready to take up the mystical powers of the sword. That voice, Zhao confirmed to Fandom, is none other than that of Mahershala Ali, aka the MCU's Blade!
Ali was announced as the infamous half-human, half-vampire hunter -- popularized by Wesley Snipes in a series of films in the late '90s and 2000s -- at Comic-Con in 2019, but he has yet to be seen in the MCU. Bassam Tariq is set to direct the Blade standalone film, which will start production next year and be released in a future phase of the MCU.
Eternals is in theaters now.
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