Eternals post-credits scene may reveal the MCU’s new Nick Fury

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It may not seem like it at first, but the post-credits scene in Eternals sets up the stories of not just one but two new Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes.

The scene sees Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman come dangerously close to wielding his family’s famed Ebony Blade for the first time, only to be stopped by the voice of an unseen stranger. Fortunately, it was revealed shortly after Eternals’ theatrical release that the scene’s mystery character is none other than Mahershala Ali’s Blade, who is set to appear in his MCU solo film sometime in the next few years.

While the Eternals post-credits scene doesn’t reveal much about what’s next for either Dane or Blade, it does set up the latter character to play a surprising role in the MCU moving forward.

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Blade’s Unique Debut — One of the leading theories surrounding Eternals’ post-credits scene is how it will ultimately play a vital role in the formation of the Midnight Sons, a team of heroes that come together in the comics to fight predominantly supernatural threats.

Blade and Black Knight (aka Dane Whitman) are expected to eventually become members of the Midnight Sons in the MCU, as are Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Ghost Rider, and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). That said, Blade’s role in Eternals also raises the possibility that he’s not going to be just a member of the MCU’s Midnight Sons.

Instead, he may end up being the character who assembles the team in the first place.

Mahershala Ali makes his unofficial MCU debut as Blade in Eternals’ post-credits scene. JC Olivera/FilmMagic/Getty Images

The Midnight Sons Initiative — While Marvel is currently working on putting together Blade, the highly anticipated film isn’t expected to hit theaters for another few years. That suggests the character’s brief, non-appearance at the end of Eternals could be all fans get of him until his standalone film is released. However, there have been leaks and rumors that suggest Ali’s Blade will appear in another upcoming MCU title: Moon Knight.

Notably, Kit Harington isn’t rumored to appear in Moon Knight right now — just Mahershala Ali. That suggests that Ali’s Blade could, potentially, seek out Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector in a way similar to how Eternals implies he sought out Harington’s Dane Whitman.

Whether he’s actively reaching out to characters like Dane and Marc because he wants to form a team with them is impossible to know for sure right now. But if there is going to be a character who fills that role for the Midnight Sons in the MCU, Blade would undoubtedly be an exciting and fitting choice.

The Eternals post-credits scene, at the very least, suggests that he may know more about the supernatural side of the MCU than many of Marvel’s other big-screen heroes do.

The Midnight Sons are a formidable Marvel Comics team. Marvel Comics

The Inverse Analysis — Marvel has proven time and time again that trying to predict its specific plans for the MCU is a foolhardy endeavor.

But when the studio introduces a character like Blade the way it does at the end of Eternals, it’s impossible not to think about how it may set up his future in the MCU. Of all the theories floating around online up to this point, the one that argues Blade will end up being the one who assembles the Midnight Sons is certainly the most compelling.

After all, his one line in Eternals (“Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”) certainly sounds like something Nick Fury would say.

A dead Marvel superhero might return in a new movie

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Eternals is streaming on Disney Plus, which means you can finally watch the film from the comfort of your home. Whether or not you saw it in theaters, the advantage of streaming is that you can pause and rewind the film to catch all the details that you might have missed the first time around. While the Eternals plot needs plenty of fixes with the help of future MCU adventures, it’s still a must-watch film. Eternals is the kind of early Phase 4 movie that will impact the MCU in various ways going forward, considering the big development we’ve just witnessed. The film certainly implies we’ll see the Eternals in other places in the future. That might include a few dead Eternals who could return in other Marvel movies and series.

There’s a brand new rumor that claims one of them might return sooner than we thought. Before we explain how all of that is possible, we’ll warn you that big spoilers follow below.

Why the Eternals deaths don’t matter

We already explained all the Eternals deaths and why they don’t really matter.

Out of the 10 superheroes we get to meet in the movie, we lose four of them during the course of the film. Three of them die. Sprite (Lia McHugh) survives the battle but chooses to become human. She gives up her powers, which means she will live a regular human life and die like the rest of us. But that doesn’t mean she’s done with that Eternals life.

Ajak (Salma Hayek), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), and Ikaris (Richard Madden) are the three dead Eternals at the end of the movie. But their sacrifices are somewhat meaningless. First of all, we’re not really in love with these characters yet. These deaths aren’t like Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) losses in Endgame.

More importantly, the Eternals aren’t living beings. That’s why they survived the snap in Infinity War. They can die, but they can’t die that easily.

Marvel can resurrect anyone

Eternals are basically advanced androids that are built to last. Arishem engineered them to survive for millions of years. As we saw in the movie, the Celestial has plenty of copies of each Eternal. He also stores all of their memories.

The Eternals get wiped after each emergence, much like you’d reset an iPhone to factory settings. You can then restore that iPhone to a previous memory backup. The same goes for Eternals.

That’s to say that Arishem can create another team of identical Eternals if he wants to. All he has to do is implant the original program in new bodies and send them on their way to a different planet.

Marvel doesn’t even need the multiverse to revive these lost characters and give us different versions of them. Bring in the multiverse angle as well, however, and you have different Eternals populating a different reality.

Finally, there’s one other way the dead Eternals come “back to life”. That’s through prequels that focus on specific stories that predate the Tiamut emergence. They’ve been living on Earth for 7,000 years, so there are plenty of other stories to tell.

What’s certain is that the post-credits scene where we get to meet Eros (Harry Styles) teases more Eternals stories. We might even get Thanos (Josh Brolin) back.

The dead Eternal who might return soon

Before we get to any of that, we have a new leak that focuses on one dead Eternal, Ikaris.

The plot twist where he turns bad might have upset some of the fans who thought Richard Madden was playing the leading Eternal superhero. But Ikaris can always come back to life with the help of Arishem. And the Ikaris that Marvel will use next might have no recollection of the events on Earth.

It’s doubtful he survived the sun — at least, we hope Marvel doesn’t do anything that cheap.

The first evidence that Ikaris might return comes from TikTok, per The Cosmic Circle. Emmy Kennard posted a video on the platform of her brother Joe. He happens to have been the stunt double for Madden in Eternals.

Emmy said of the video that no NDAs were broken, but the clip is no longer available on TikTok. She implied that Joe is currently slated to work as a “character coming back into the MCU.”

Joe only worked as an MCU stunt double on Eternals. That implies the character coming back is Ikaris. If accurate, then we might see Ikaris in a different MCU movie soon. But it’s unclear where this dead Eternal might show up next.

We’ll also remind you that Salma Hayek reportedly inked a multiple-movie deal with Marvel. We might see a version of Ajak return in the future, unless they only use her for flashbacks.

Starfox in Eternals: Who does Harry Styles play in Eternals and how does Starfox fit into Marvel?

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Warning: spoilers for Eternals rampant below.

In an otherwise unpopular film, one aspect that got fans talking about Eternals was the surprise casting choice of Harry Styles, former One Direction member.

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Mr Styles has played other roles in films, including Dunkirk and Don’t Worry Darling, but his entrance to the MCU was a surprise until fans saw the reveal during the mid credits scene.

Eternals was full of A-List names, including Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, and Salma Hayek, to name but a few.

Here’s what we know so far about Harry Styles’ character and how he might fit into the future of the MCU.

Who does Harry Styles play in Eternals?

Harry Styles has entered the MCU as Eros, also known as Starfox, brother of Thanos. Photo: Disney.

Harry Styles plays Eros, also known as Starfox, and is introduced in the mid credits scene of Eternals, appearing to Thena, Druig, and Makkari on board their shop, the Domo.

He is announced with many titles: “The Royal Prince of Titan, brother of Thanos, the Knave of Hearts, Defeater of Black Roger, the great Adventurer, Starfox of Mystery Planet.”

Eros looks very different to his brother, the purple-skinned and enormous Mad Titan who battled Earth’s mightiest heroes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. although you can see some similarities in the style of their armor.

From the few words he’s spoken so far, Eros seems to be a bit easier to get along with than Thanos, gently rebuking his companion, Pip the Troll, for the lengthy introduction.

Eros makes his first appearance on board the Domo, facing Druig, Makkari, and Thena. Photo: Disney.

He warns his “fellow Eternals” that their friends, presumably the other Eternals left on Earth, are in big trouble, but claims to be “here to help”, knowing where they are.

Of course, his brother Thanos thought he was doing the universe a favour by wiping out half of the total population, so it might be wise to take his help with a pinch of salt.

It’s not clear when Eros will make a comeback, but perhaps in a sequel Eternals movie.

Who is Starfox?

As in the comics, Eros is the birthname of the new character, with Starfox more of a title.

However, the original character of Starfox in the comics is somewhat problematic.

First introduced in the comics in Iron Man 55, Eros first had a supporting role in facing down Thanos alongside his father.

When he joins the Avengers in Avengers 231, Eros takes on the code name Starfox.

From now on, he’s established as a “foxy guy”, who loves to flirt.

It’s referenced that he was the inspiration for the Roman god of love, Eros.

Eros also has a secret power that he initially hides from the other Avengers; he can enhance people’s pleasure centres, making himself irresistible to them.

The power also means he can calm people down, with it being shown to sap the violence out of several bad guys.

These comics first came out in the 1980s, when there weren’t the same discussions around consent as now.

Nonetheless, even in the comics, there are discussions around whether Eros’ powers mean any consent given is forced, with the superhero ultimately giving them up in one storyline.

‘Eternals’: Gemma Chan Confirms She Will Play Sersi Again, ‘Marvel Owns Us for Life’

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Marvel’s Eternals opened to mixed reviews from critics and fans, but many agree that they want to see the film’s remaining characters in future movies. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film didn’t exactly tie up all of its stories in a neat bow, so it would make sense if there were a sequel or crossovers. And, thankfully, Gemma Chan has stated that her Eternals character will return sometime in the future.

Gemma Chan | Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Annabel’s

Gemma Chan played Sersi in ‘Eternals’

Sersi, played by Gemma Chan, is one of 10 new superheroes introduced in Marvel’s Eternals. She is one of the Eternals, and she can manipulate and transform matter through physical contact. From the beginning of the film, it’s clear that she is very empathetic, which is why she forms strong connections with humans.

Sersi and Ikaris, another Eternal, fall in love after the Celestials send them to Earth to protect it from the Deviants. However, after the Eternals defeat the rest of the Deviants, Sersi and Ikaris go their separate ways. In the present day, Sersi works as a museum curator in London and is dating Dane Whitman.

Sersi and the rest of the Eternals learn that their mission was not to fight the Deviants but to get Earth ready for the “Emergence,” which is the birth of a new Celestial. The event would wipe out all humans, so most of the Eternals, including Sersi, agree to try to stop it. Unfortunately, Ikaris knew of the “Emergence” for hundreds of years, and he betrays Sersi in attempting to stop her.

In the end, Sersi and her team prevent the “Emergence” from happening. And, due to his guilt, Ikaris kills himself by flying into the sun. Later, the Celestial, Arishem, drags Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo into space. He tells them that if their memories prove that humans are worth saving, he will spare their lives and humanity. So, it’s a good thing that Gemma Chan is not done playing her Eternals character because fans need closure.

Gemma Chan admitted that she will reprise her ‘Eternals’ character in the future

During an interview with W Magazine, Eternals star Gemma Chan discussed her career and role in the Marvel film. When asked if she would play Sersi again, Chan responded, “Yes. Marvel owns us for life. [Laughs].”

Unfortunately, Chan didn’t expand on that revelation. So, either she’s unsure which movie Sersi will appear in next, or Marvel is keeping her involvement under wraps. Whatever the case may be, fans will be happy to hear that they will get closure regarding Sersi’s story in the MCU.

In the interview, Gemma Chan also revealed what it was like playing a god in Eternals. She said, “It was interesting. In Eternals, she starts out shy and then discovers her power as a leader. That was fun.”

Marvel has yet to announce a sequel for ‘Eternals’

An Eternals sequel would be the most plausible theory regarding which MCU movie Gemma Chan will play Sersi in next. Although many rumors say that a sequel is in development, Marvel has not confirmed the project.

Aside from Chan’s comments during the W Magazine interview, Salma Hayek also mentioned in Smallzy’s Celebrity Small Talk Podcast that she could return as Ajak in the MCU. Hayek said, “I did sign multiple movie deals. It was kind of fun being part of this … secret society that you have to protect so fearlessly.”

But, during an interview with Elle, Chloé Zhao denied any notion of a sequel. She said, “You know, I was very encouraged to make a good standalone film and nothing further. With this specific film, let’s put everything on the table and see what happens.”

Eternals, starring Gemma Chan, is now available to stream on Disney+.

RELATED: Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ Director Chloe Zhao Reveals the Movie’s Original ‘Very Bleak’ Ending

Eternals Is Just the Plot of Steven Universe

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Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Cartoon Network and Walt Disney Studios

There are a lot of reasons Eternals, Marvel’s most recent phase-launcher now streaming on Disney+, falls short; the brilliant Angelica Jade Bastién has already laid out a number of them. There’s the Richard Madden–shaped charisma hole at its center, the jokes that sink like cement shoes, and oy, more weightless CGI monster fights. But here’s one more indictment against the MCU’s latest: Steven Universe did its plot first, and better.

Spoilers ahead.

Rebecca Sugar’s animated series Steven Universe ran on Cartoon Network from 2013 to 2019, and if you spend a lot of your online life in queer nerd spaces, you probably already know its whole deal. If not, it follows a (half-) human kid named Steven being raised by the Crystal Gems, powerful members of an advanced alien race of immortals who have lived on Earth among its people for around 6,000 years. Some are homesick for their Homeworld, but all of them have grown to love Earth and the imperfect people who inhabit it.

This is more or less the Eternals’ deal, too: They’re a group of superpowerful, immortal emissaries from space, living on Earth among its people for around 7,000 years. Like the Crystal Gems, they’ve occasionally crossed paths with and influenced human development. The Eternals introduced certain technologies like irrigation and the plough. The Crystal Gems’ presence impacted human life so that the show’s universe differs in small but notable ways from ours (the U.S. only has 39 states; the film industry is based in Kansas instead of California). Some characters are homesick: The Eternals’ speedster Makkari stays camped out in their spaceship, dreaming of when they can return to their home planet Olympia, while SU characters Pearl and Peridot fixate on returning to Homeworld. Others, like SU’s Amethyst and Eternals’ Sersi, enjoy the company of humans and the indulgences of human culture.

When Steven Universe begins, the Crystal Gems are unambiguously presented as good guys who spend their days saving Earth from monsters. They battle these monsters with unique weapons that only they can manifest: Garnet can summon giant, powerful fists; Pearl uses a sort of spear; and trickster younger-sister type Amethyst shape-shifts.

When Eternals begins, the Eternals are unambiguously presented as good guys who spend their days saving Earth from monsters. They battle these monsters with unique weapons that only they can manifest: Gilgamesh can summon giant, powerful fists; Thena uses a sort of spear; and trickster younger-sister type Sprite shape-shifts.

I acknowledge that the characters and mythos of the Eternals comics are far older than Steven Universe, and that many of these science-fiction and superhero tropes were established by Marvel and 20th-century American comic books in the first place. But here is where things begin to overlap in a way that doesn’t flatter Eternals by comparison.

We soon learn that the Crystal Gems’ position on Earth is more complicated than the show first let on. For one, the monsters they’ve been fighting are actually Corrupted Gems, and they’re more intelligent than their animalistic forms let on. Turns out, the Gem race was sent to Earth by a small group of massive, powerful space deities called the Diamonds to exploit a lesser planet. The Diamonds planted a massive cluster of fused Gems at the center of the Earth’s core, and this cluster, which has been dormant and incubating for millennia, will soon awaken as one gargantuan being and burst out of the Earth, destroying it.

Thus sums up both the A- and B-plots of Eternals. The action is sparked by the death of the group’s leader, Ajak, much like how Steven Universe begins with the death of the Crystal Gems’ leader, Steven’s mother Rose Quartz. The Eternals believed they were put on Earth to fight monsters called Deviants, but they soon learn that the Deviants are more intelligent and advanced than they used to be. They also learn that the only reason that the massive, powerful space deities called the Celestials (led by the one named Arishem) sent them to fight Deviants was to preserve Earth long enough to incubate a giant, dormant Celestial at the Earth’s core, which will soon awaken and burst out of the Earth, destroying it.

So the Gems/Eternals must defy the will of the Diamonds/Arishem and stop the Cluster/Celestial at the Earth’s core from awakening and busting the planet to bits. Both situations seem hopeless, but Steven Universe’s Steven and Eternals’ Druig both use an amplified psychic power to reach and subdue the sentient threat in the center of the Earth.

Where the two stories differ is in what themes these extremely similar plots are used to explore. When the Eternals learn that they’re essentially space robots who cannot evolve, it’s bittersweet, but only within the framework of the film’s Randian obsession with themes of evolution and progress. Director Chloé Zhao told Variety that she intended for Eternals to be infused with a Taoist philosophy similar to Steven Universe’s, saying, “In our society, in the stories we tell about ourselves, we often emphasize and celebrate masculine strength — the strength of constant action, of winning, of innovating and expending. In Eternals, we wanted to explore the feminine strength in all of us — the strength that comes from vulnerability, love, forgiveness and ‘actionless action.’” These are beautiful ideas that are not reflected in the film’s chilly, bird’s-eye view of humanity. It only zooms in on actual people at moments of productivity and industriousness: the agrarian economy, the efficient film set, the American suburban home.

Meanwhile, when the Crystal Gems marvel at humans’ un-Gem-like ability to grow and change, it’s more about the freedom to err, learn, accept each other, love each other, and live as one’s honest identity. In Steven Universe, when two gems fuse, it’s an act of trust and love that is stigmatized and forbidden on their home planet. In this way, fusion is queer-coded, and this fantastical device is used to introduce nonbinary characters like Stevonnie and gay relationships like Ruby and Sapphire, whose existence is central to the show’s plot and worldview. And because fusion is introduced to the viewer as such an intimate and meaningful act, the Cluster is terrifying not only because it threatens to destroy the Earth, but because it was made by force, without its composite gems’ consent. Eternals’ Celestials, meanwhile, are just an inversion of Marvel’s stale old Act Three threat of “giant hole in the sky.” A generous reading could cast the final rift between Sersi and Ikaris as a pro-choice allegory, with the unsympathetic zealot Ikaris bullishly insisting that it’s worth carrying the Celestial to term and destroying the beings of Earth without their consent because it will create potential, future life. But that’s, like, a galaxy-brain stretch; it takes some squinting.

And while the cast of Eternals is admirably diverse, that diversity has been used as a shield by MCU fans against genuine criticisms of the film. Brian Tyree Henry’s character Phastos gives a small, impassioned speech toward the end of the movie about how he cherishes his son and his husband, and how he lives for himself and not for any Celestial. But the kiss he shares with his husband earlier in the movie is the sort of thing that a homophobic censor could cut out, with the rest of the film remaining largely identical. In fact, this has already happened in certain film markets. Queerness, identity, and diversity of bodies in Eternals are not as thematically, explicitly crucial to the plot as they are in Steven Universe. The Gems of Steven Universe all fight for Earth because it’s a place where they can make chosen families, find euphoria in the fullest expression of their identities, and dance and transform and kiss whomever they want. It’s what makes us care about all of these characters, not just one out of ten. If Marvel had the courage of its convictions, Eternals could have been something special. Steven Universe is a taste of what it could have been.

Also, Steven Universe has more interesting color palettes than just “all golden hour always,” and the jokes actually land. So.