The big reveals in Eternals’ two post-credits scenes

Spoilers follow for Marvel’s Eternals.

The Eternals, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest superheroes, have arrived with one of the loopiest chapters in MCU history. It includes a creation story featuring all-powerful beings called Celestials, a cosmic adventure, beautifully weird villains called Deviants, themes of colonialism, and our new heroes, who just sort of save Earth all by themselves with no Avengers to be seen.

Speaking of, where were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? Surely they knew about the cataclysmic event at the center of this film?

The two post-credits scenes attached to the movie have the answer to that and other pressing questions, including who, exactly, the Eternals ticked off when they bucked orders from their commanding Celestial.

Credits scenes have become a Marvel tradition to either tease new characters or plug future movies, or some combination of the two. The Eternals’ pair follow suit. One introduces a new character who sets up the Eternals’ next quest. The other, well, brings back a beloved character while laying the foundation for the future of the MCU.

At the end of Eternals, the team splits up. Three members — Thena (Angelina Jolie), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), and Druig (Barry Keoghan) — go to space and try to help other planets that may be in danger. Three others — Sersi (Gemma Chan), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), and Phastos (Bryan Tyree Henry) — stay on Earth to continue their terrestrial lives as immortal beings. Sprite (Lia McHugh), the last member of the surviving Eternals, stays on Earth but chooses to become human. Everything seems fine … until it’s not.

The problem is that the Celestial Arishem, who created Earth’s Eternals, is really mad that they foiled his plan of sacrificing Earth to birth another Celestial. Irate with the Eternals who defied him, he takes the three Earth-based Eternals prisoner, vowing that they will face his judgment or some kind of cosmic wrath.

That’s how the film ends.

The credits scene picks up from there, with the space Eternals sensing that something’s gone amiss — and that someone’s teleporting onto their ship. This happens to be Eros (a.k.a. Starfox), played by singer and former One Direction member Harry Styles, along with his sidekick (who appears to be the character Pip the Troll). Eros tells the team that he, too, is an Eternal, and he knows how to help them get their friends back.

The big takeaway from the scene is that Harry Styles is now part of the MCU as Eros, Thanos’s brother. In the comic books, Eros has been imbued with the same kind of cosmic superpowers all Eternals have. He can also control people’s emotions, a power set that can lean slightly problematic depending on how he’s written. It’s not totally clear how Marvel will adapt Eros’s powers in the MCU, as it tweaked some of the Eternals’ abilities when the heroes made the jump to the live-action movie.

Eros’s appearance also sets into motion the beginnings of an Eternals sequel. They’ll need his help to find their friends and defeat someone as powerful as Arishem. But can Eros be trusted?

At the end of the movie, when Arishem snatches Sersi, her boyfriend Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) is about to tell her a secret. The pesky kidnapping gets in the way, but we do find out the secret in the post-credits scene.

Cut to Dane in a fancy room, looking at a menacing sword. The blade, while solidly metal, is also imbued with a cloudy material that seems responsive to human touch. Just as Dane is about to touch it, a disembodied voice stops him and asks if he’s ready to do that. The voice sure sounds like Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury (although the scene was very brief, and the voice abrupt).

The primary reveal here is that Dane is a potential superhero. In the comic books, Dane becomes the Avenger known as Black Knight, who wields a sword called the Ebony Blade. It’s a magical and mystical sword that can cut through any object, defend its user against magic, absorb souls, and do all kinds of weird stuff. Unfortunately, it also has a curse that makes its wielder prone to bloodshed — hence the sword’s ominous nature.

The voice is also important. For so many Marvel movies’ post-credits, Nick Fury’s presence was tied to recruiting new members. With the departure of Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, his return seems to indicate that some form of the Avengers is back in action, and/or that Nick Fury is assembling some new potential members of the team — including one Dane Whitman.

source https://www.vox.com/22761699/eternals-post-credits-scenes-spoilers-harry-styles-nick-fury