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Eternals has finally arrived, officially placing us 75% of the way through Marvel’s banner 2021–a major comeback from the total lack of releases in 2020. And, like every other MCU movie (or TV show) that’s come out this year, Eternals is different, to put it mildly. A complete and total departure from the formula that has served Marvel Studios for decades, the story introduces a whole host of brand-new characters and concepts that are definitely going to come into play as Phase 4 continues.
So, naturally, we’ve got to talk about the ending and subsequent post-credits scenes. Obviously, we’re getting into major spoilers here so if you’ve been avoiding them thus far, be warned.
The Ending
While Eternal’s chief “bad guys,” or at least the monsters that are getting punched and blasted with lasers are the Deviants, the actual threat the story hinges on is the emergence of a new Celestial, a giant cosmic being that functions as a sort of universal deity. Celestials have existed for an incalculable amount of time and have been quietly working in the background to dictate the formation of various planets and the population of sentient beings. The Eternals themselves were created by a Celestial named Arishem who has tasked them with their mission to fight off the Deviants.
Of course, it’s not actually that simple. While the Celestials themselves don’t have an evil (or altruistic) agenda, their deeply neutral stance means they see no problem with the wholesale destruction of planets–especially when those planets are being used as eggs to gestate new Celestials into existence. This is the actual conflict of the movie: the Eternals learning that they must defy Arishem’s wishes and stop the birth of Tiamat, a new Celestial, whose emergence would destroy Earth entirely.
It will come as no surprise that the Eternals are eventually able to stop Tiamat from being “born,” thanks to some crafty teamwork and despite the betrayal of two of their own–Ikarus and Sprite–though doing so obviously provokes the ire of Arishem. This is where we leave things on Earth, with Tiamat dead (and transformed into a cool new glacial feature out in the ocean), Ikarus also dead (after flying into the sun, like his namesake), Sprite transformed into a human so she can grow up, and the remaining Eternals scattered to the wind. Sersei, Kingo, and Phastos remain on Earth while Thena, Druig, and Makkari take to space in their recently repaired ship.
It would seem that all’s well that ends well–at least, until Arishem comes calling. He’s not very happy about the Eternals going rogue and, being a cosmic entity with near limitless power, is able to simply reach down and pluck Sersei off of Earth’s surface while she’s mid-conversation, bringing her to space and forcing her to make a case for herself and her actions–but more on this in a second. First, we have to check in with the other group of Eternals, the ones traveling in space.
The Mid-Credits Scene
Our first stinger was largely already spoiled thanks to some early reactions on Twitter, but it features Thena, Druig, and Makkari as they travel through space toward destinations unknown on a quest for the other Eternals the Celestials may have made and placed on distant planets.
They’re interrupted before they can get very far, however, by what looks like the light and energy of the Bifrost, teleporting someone directly into their craft.
This stranger is heralded at first by Pip the Troll, voiced by Patton Oswald, who complains about teleporting after drinking and then announces the real star of the show: Eros, brother of Thanos, AKA Starfox–played by Harry Styles. It’s not clear exactly what he wants with the Eternals or why he sought them out–he only briefly gets to introduce himself and make some implications toward a bigger mission before the scene ends.
It’s equally unclear exactly how Eros will be portrayed in the MCU. Pip introduces him as the brother of Thanos so that much is holding true from the comics, but given how dramatically the movie shifted the origin story of the Eternals themselves (they’re actually robotic organisms now, rather than genetic off-shoots from humans) , anything else is very hard to guess. It’s also difficult to tell how his powers and abilities, like emotional manipulation, will manifest.
It’s also worth noting that in the comics, Pip the Troll has a connection to Adam Warlock who was recently cast in the MCU for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so it might be best to expect Eros, Pip, and this particular group of Eternals to crop up in that movie next.
The Post-Credits
We return to Earth for the second stinger, which focuses on poor Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) who, honestly, didn’t have very much to do for the movie itself. And to add insult to injury, he was right in the middle of trying to tell Sersei something important about both himself and his family before she was snatched away by Arishem.
This has left him with a big choice, apparently, because we join him here in a moment of conflict, pacing around near a long, ornate box. When he flips it open, we see a large medieval-looking sword that he’s hesitant to touch.
Though Dane had very little to do during the movie itself, fans of Marvel comics will recognize his name–and the handful of nods made to his complicated “family legacy”–as hints towards his identity as the Black Knight, a C-list Marvel hero and/or anti-hero, depending on who you’re talking to. In terms of abilities, he’s just as medieval as he sounds with his powers stemming from the sword–the Ebony Blade–along with a whole roster of high fantasy skills like horseback riding and knowing a lot about magic.
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And speaking of the Ebony Blade, the reason he’s so hesitant to touch it is because it’s got a bit of a One Ring thing going on. The sword grants all kinds of strength but simultaneously feeds off the negative emotions of a person, slowly driving them to madness. Oh, and the sword has some connections to Venom–or at least Venom’s ancestor, Knull, an eldritch being who created the symbiotes–but it’s unclear whether the MCU will go this route or not.
Also worth noting, the voice that interrupts Dane at the end of the movie? Apparently it’s Mahershala Ali as Blade, making this our first ever tease as to Blade’s place in the MCU following his announcement back at SDCC 2019. But obviously we won’t know more about this for a while, probably, or at least until Spider-Man: No Way Home gives us more Phase 4 clues.
Eternals is in theaters now.
