Spoilers ahead as we discuss the post credits scenes from “Eternals” including the revelation behind that mystery voice at the end of the film…
SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN MARVEL’S ETERNALS
Now that Marvel’s “Eternals” has been in theaters for a few days, it’s time to discuss those post credits scenes and what they meet to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As it’s become customary with most Marvel films, there are two post credits scenes at the conclusion of “Eternals” with the first happening at the midway point of the credits and then another at the very end.
First, let’s tackle the first post credits scene because that one ties directly into the movie itself as well as what we’d have to imagine will be a sequel to “Eternals” or at the very least the next time these characters will appear in the MCU.
At the conclusion of the film, the Eternals stopped the emergence of a Celestial on Earth, which stopped the planet from being torn apart but that also came at great cost to the team itself. Ikaris, after initially turning on the team, ended up helping them stop the Celestial from being born and he ended up flying himself directly into the sun, which means he may or may not be dead at this point.
As for the rest of the team, Sersi, Phastos, Kingo, and Sprite decided to stay on Earth while Thena, Druig and Makkari opted to leave on their ship to find other Eternals out in the rest of the universe. Unfortunately, Arishem — the Celestial responsible for creating the Eternals — ends up taking Sersi, Phastos, Kingo and Sprite and holding them for judgment after disobeying his orders by killing another Celestial and saving Earth.
Arishem decides to spare Earth for the time being but he declares that he will probe these Eternals to decide if the planet is worth saving or not. He will eventually return but until then, Arishem takes the rest of the Eternals with him.
Back on the Eternals’ ship, the rest of the team are soon visited by a famous character from Marvel Comics history when Pip the Troll (voiced by Patton Oswalt) shows up and announces the arrival of his boss — Eros (played by Harry Styles) — the brother of Thanos — and he says that he knows where they can find their friends and he’s willing to assist them in the search.
In the comics, Eros was a far cry from his brother as he just enjoyed living life to the fullest, which usually included getting into various adventures while becoming quite the universal womanizer. Eros, who is also known as Starfox, eventually joined the Avengers after he helped stop his brother Thanos after he first possessed the Infinity Gauntlet with the intention of wiping out half of life across the universe.
Here’s where things get interesting — Eros is an Eternal, which means he’s another member of the race created by the Celestials but his brother Thanos also possesses similar DNA. As part of the canon, Thanos is later revealed to be an Eternal as well except he also had a small strain of Deviant DNA as well, which explains his different appearance when compared to his human looking brother.
How much of that will be added into the MCU remains unknown but Eros is certainly a fun addition to the larger story, especially when it comes to the cosmic/space stories like “Eternals” or “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Judging by his introduction, Eros will be helping the Eternals track down their missing members but it also remains to be seen where else he might pop up moving forward. With Adam Warlock finally being introduced in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” it would seem at least possible that Eros might pop up there as well considering the character’s long standing ties to his brother Thanos as well as Adam, who helped defeat the Mad Titan after he claimed the Infinity Gauntlet as his own in the comics.
Now let’s talk about that second post credits scene.
Dane Whitman (played by Kit Harington) was introduced as Sersi’s boyfriend in “Eternals” and he seemed remarkably normal while dating an immortal Eternal. Just before Sersi was zapped away by Arishem and taken to an unknown location, Dane was about to tell her his complicated family history.
During the post credits scene, Dane is seen opening an old box with the words “Death Is My Reward” scribbled into the wood that contains an ancient sword with ties to his family.
In the comics, Dane Whitman is better known as The Black Knight, who is eventually a member of the Avengers but more importantly he wields a powerful and magic sword known as the Ebony Blade. As history tells it, the Ebony Blade was created by the magician Merlin and Sir Percy and it’s an incredibly powerful sword that grants the user immense powers such as the ability to cut through any object as well as protection from magical spells.
Sadly, the Ebony Blade also comes along with a powerful curse that corrupts its user over time, essentially sending that person down a dark path with a lust for violence, greed and destruction. The Ebony Blade is considered the dark counterpart to Excalibur.
Throughout history, the Ebony Blade was used for horrific atrocities carried out by members of Dane’s family but once he took possession of the sword, he decided to use it in order to become a hero instead.
During one particular storyline, Dane is using the Ebony Blade but he’s actually been handed a replica as part a plot by Dracula to take the powerful sword away from him. Yes, Dracula exists in the Marvel Universe.
That potentially ties into a voice heard off screen just as Dane looks down to grab the sword, somebody says “Sure, you’re ready for that Mr. Whitman?” but we never see the person saying that to him.
It’s now been revealed that the voice belongs to two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, who will be portraying the new version of Blade in the MCU. Ali will be starring in a new “Blade” movie that is expected to go into production in 2022, which means he could be teaming up with Dane Whitman or at least Dane could make an appearance when the Daywalker faces off with whatever vampires he’s trying to destroy.
It’s an interesting first appearance for Ali, who was first announced as the new Blade during San Diego Comic Con back in 2019.
Of course, Dane becoming The Black Knight seems almost a certainty now and he also has ties to Sersi as the woman he loves, who has now been kidnapped by the Celestials.
Plenty more to come for all of these characters as the Marvel Cinematic Universe gears up in a big way with the next major film being “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which will fully introduce the multi-verse when that movie opens on December 17.
