Only in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would fans not only accept the idea of former One Direction member Harry Styles being cast as the brother of the Infinity Saga’s end-of-level boss Thanos, but they’d go positively nuts with excitement over it.
The mid-credits scene of Eternals set Styles up for a major role in the cosmic side of the mythology moving forward, although we haven’t heard any guarantees that a direct sequel is forthcoming. Chloe Zhao’s blockbuster is the worst-reviewed installment in MCU history, but it nonetheless managed to capture the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere, as well as bringing in a solid $401 million at the box office.
Reflecting on the movie in an interview with Empire, the two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker revealed new details about unlikely siblings Thanos and Eros, which could potentially be paid off further down the line.
“If you go to the comics, there’s some quite beautiful, heartbreaking influence Eros has had on Thanos. And how much does Thanos know? I love him as a character. It makes my imagination go crazy thinking, ‘Why does Thanos think this way? Why is he worried about overpopulation and destroying his planet?’ Think about the emergence – does Eros know about it? Maybe if he’s an advisor, the way Ajak advised kings and queens on Earth? It gets my imagination going.
For me, the backstory of Eros is that he deserted, he said, “I’m not doing this anymore.” So he somehow got that sphere, which you saw in his hand, and he ran off and made Pip the troll. They’re like Han Solo and Chewie. Arishem’s been looking for him, and he’s just been a space outlaw. That’s the character I had in my mind. But I never said once to Kevin, ‘Here’s the character. Let’s find an actor.’ For me, it was a package deal. It’s got to be Harry. That’s how I pitched it to Kevin.”
In the worst case scenario, if Eternals doesn’t get a feature-length sequel, then surely Disney Plus is the way to go. After all, there’s plenty of characters to choose from and literally any period in human history could serve as the backdrop, but we can’t say that we’re not curious about diving deep into the family history of Starfox and the Mad Titan.