WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Marvel Studios’ Eternals, now in theaters.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 26th installment is Eternals, a film about a group of immortal beings who have protected the Earth for thousands of years. In the present day, the Eternals are forced to re-emerge to battle their sworn enemies, the Deviants. And while the film’s story stands on its own and doesn’t really require any prior knowledge of the MCU, there are several seeds planted throughout that set up potential sequels or spinoffs. Let’s break down every potential MCU installment that Eternals sets up.
Eternals Sequel
The first and most obvious follow-up that Eternals sets up is its own sequel. While the heroes manage to defeat the Deviants once and for all, the film ends with each of its heroes in intriguing situations — half of the team leave Earth to locate other Eternals, while the other half is taken through a portal by the Celestial Arishem.
A potential sequel could explore both of these groups’ journeys at the same time, in a manner similar to the disbanded Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War. With key members Ikaris, Ajak, Gilgamesh and Sprite all out of commission, the dynamic between the remaining Eternals is sure to be a lot more complicated, and a sequel could explore that while also continuing to explore the cosmic side of the MCU.
Infinity Watch
Eternals‘ mid-credits scene sees the heroes who have chosen to explore the universe in search of their own kind being paid a visit by Starfox and Pip the Troll. Starfox, who is played by pop star Harry Styles, is identified as the brother of Thanos and informs the Eternals that the other members of their kind are in trouble.
The introduction of Starfox and Pip to the MCU seems to be setting up a team from the comics called the Infinity Watch. The group is comprised of various cosmic heroes, including Pip, Starfox and Adam Warlock, who has already been confirmed to debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Assuming Adam makes it out of the events of that film alive and well, it seems likely that these comic book teammates will cross paths sooner rather than later.
Black Knight
Sersi’s love interest in Eternals is Dane Whitman (Kit Harington), a human professor with a complicated family history. In the source material, Whitman is a superhero known as the Black Knight. Having inherited a magical sword called the Ebony Blade from his supervillain uncle, he decides to right his family’s wrongs and has served as a member of various superhero teams, including the Avengers and the Defenders.
In the film’s post-credits scene, Whitman opens a chest that belonged to older family members of his, discovering the Ebony Blade inside. This seems to be a pretty clear indication that Whitman will follow the path of his comic book counterpart, and Harington has been widely rumored to reprise his role in a Black Knight solo project or some other type of follow-up. Despite this, Harington and the MCU’s producers have remained tight-lipped on his future, suggesting that they may have slightly different plans for Whitman.
Blade
In addition to potentially setting up Black Knight, the post-credits scene for Eternals throws audiences a curveball by also debuting Mahershala Ali’s Blade. After Whitman picks up the Ebony Blade, a voice is heard from off-screen, asking him whether or not he is ready to wield it. Although the speaker is never physically seen, the voice is clearly Mahershala Ali’s, and Chloe Zhao has subsequently confirmed that it is indeed Blade talking to Whitman.
Blade, real name Eric Brooks, is a fan-favorite comic book character who specializes in hunting down vampires. He has worked alongside heroes such as Doctor Strange and the X-Men and has battled various villains, including Morbius the Living Vampire and even Dracula himself.
Ali was announced to portray the MCU’s Blade at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, with a solo film starring him also confirmed at the same time. Details on the film are scarce, but Eternals‘ post-credits scene seems to suggest that Whitman may end up joining Blade on his quest, using the Ebony Blade to aid them in slaying vampires. Blade has also been rumored to show up next in the Moon Knight Disney+ series, and if that ends up being the case, he’ll likely have Whitman in tow.
To see these setups for future MCU installments, Marvel Studios’ Eternals is now in theaters.
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