Eternals’ Post-Credits Are Good For The MCU’s Future But They’re Not Earned

Warning: SPOILERS for Eternals‘ mid- and post-credits scenes.

While entertaining, Eternals‘ post-credits scenes are good for the MCU’s future, but they weren’t earned during the movie. This was far from the first time that a Marvel after-credits scene had included new information with little to no build-up, but the details revealed in the Eternals after-credits scenes will greatly affect the future of the MCU by introducing new characters and challenging assumptions about older ones. Because of this, it was rather surprising that Eternals didn’t devote more time to properly setting up its final reveals.

Marvel’s post-credits scenes have become a highly anticipated aspect of the MCU films since they often include fun Easter eggs or tease future projects. Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example, included an entire trailer for Doctor Strange 2, as well as a small scene of Eddie Brock and Venom that suggested Venom’s potential future in the MCU. Yet, Eternals was much bolder with its end-credits.

The mid-credits scene for Eternals show the remaining Eternals in their spaceship, pondering their next move after some of their number go missing, when two strangers portal into their ship: Pip the Troll, voiced by Patton Oswalt and Eros, also known as Starfox, played by Harry Styles. The second post-credits scene features Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman anxiously studying an ancient sword when an off-screen voice asks, “Are you sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?” While both moments promise exciting directions that the MCU could take in the future, neither scene is properly set up ahead of time.

Why Eternals’ End-Credits Teases Are Great For The MCU’s Future

The three new characters introduced in the Eternals post-credits, along with confirmation that Dane Whitman is a much more important figure than previously imagined, guarantee that promising developments are in store not just for the Eternals, but for the MCU as a whole. In the comics, Pip the Troll was an important player in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline as a member of a group called the Infinity Watch, which was in charge of guarding the Infinity Stones. Pip has often been associated with MCU characters like Gamora and Drax the Destroyer, both of whom have also been part of the Infinity Watch in the past. His arrival in the MCU could be setting up a version of the Infinity Watch to guard over the Stones, perhaps as a result of Adam Warlock, who will be making his debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and, in the comics, was briefly seduced by the power of the Stones.

Pip the Troll’s companion in the Eternals mid-credits scene introduces himself as Thanos’ brother Eros, who is also an Eternal. Eros has the power to manipulate other people’s emotions, which could make him either an asset or an obstacle to the heroes, depending on his mood. In the end-credits scene, Eros tells the other Eternals that he knows where their friends and fellow Eternals are being kept, paving the way for them to work together in a future movie — at least at first. Another exciting moment is in Eternals‘ end-credits scene with Dane Whitman, which not only teases the Black Knight and the Ebony Blade, but also implies the arrival of Blade. Further, it teases that a supernatural-based team from the comics like Midnight Sons or MI-13 could be in the works. Sadly, Blade remains off-screen, but the moment heightens anticipation for his proper entry into the MCU.

As exciting as these moments are, however, they’re something of a letdown for anyone not intimately knowledgable about the comics. For more casual audiences, it’s hard to get excited about the teases without any context. In particular, the introduction of Eros seemed to come out of nowhere, but both end-credits scenes might have been more impactful had they had any sort of buildup.

Dane Whitman’s Family History Is Badly Overlooked

In a movie trying to juggle such a large ensemble of characters, Eternals can’t devote much screen time to Dane Whitman, making it difficult for audiences to learn anything substantial about him. That is, not until the end-credits scene, which reveals that Dane now possesses the cursed Ebony Blade taken from his uncle, the previous Black Knight. In the comics, the Ebony Blade is a powerful weapon that could cut through any object while also protecting its wielder from magical attacks, but it has a nasty downside. Whoever uses the sword becomes slowly corrupted by its power, craving violence and destruction. This reveal helps flesh out one of the least developed characters in the Eternals movie by showing that Dane isn’t nearly as ordinary as the rest of the film makes him out to be, despite a few hints that there’s more to his family than meets the eye. However, by devoting such little time to him, it comes as a shock that he has such a big secret to hide. Dane Whitman’s family history and his estrangement from his uncle are briefly mentioned by him, but Eternal, otherwise completely fails to explore that thread. If the movie had spared just a few minutes laying the groundwork for this reveal, the scene would feel more deserved.

There’s Never Been An MCU Setup For Thanos’ Family

Even more shocking than the reveal about Dane’s family is the reveal about that of Thanos. Despite being the MCU’s main villain for Phases 1-3, Thanos’ backstory remained surprisingly vague. Marvel movies devoted very little time to exploring his early background or family before turning into the Mad Titan. The movies only briefly mention his origin on the planet Titan without ever showing much, which makes the revelation that he has a brother seem to come entirely out of nowhere. Viewers may very well be left confused about why a brother was never mentioned before, why Eros never intervened in Thanos’ plans, and why the siblings don’t look at all alike.

In Marvel comics, Thanos and Eros looked so different from each other because Thanos’ birth resulted from his parents experimentally mixing Eternal and Deviant DNA, resulting in his mutated form. Of course, trying to explain this without having introduced the Eternals would’ve been rather difficult, but the MCU’s decision to leave out Thanos’ family entirely instead was a poor solution. Future movies will have to bend over backwards to justify Eros’ absence up until Eternals, when Thanos could have easily mentioned growing up differently from his family in one of his many MCU appearances. A simple comment would have gone a long way toward integrating Thanos’ family without confusing audiences. Not only would it have helped flesh out the villain even further, but it would have also made Eros’ introduction feel more natural.

Blade Is Pulled Out Of Nowhere (And Too Hidden)

The fact that director Chloe Zhao had to confirm that the voice speaking to Dane in the end-credits belonged to Mahershala Ali’s Blade says it all. As messy and disconnected as all of the Eternals‘ end-credits reveals were, the least deserved was Blade, who had seemingly nothing to do with the movie or its characters at all. A vampire hunter who tries to stay out of the limelight has little in common with the otherworldly Eternals and their world-ending catastrophes. Perhaps if Dane’s connection to the Black Knight were better set up — maybe by showing him researching the Ebony Blade or other supernatural items — then bringing in Blade would have made more sense. The vampire hunter could have been alerted to Dane Whitmans’s research or simply sensed the blade’s cursed energy. Either option would have made his inclusion in the Eternals post-credits scene far more impactful.