Marvel’s Eternals: Secret New MCU Characters Explained

Marvel’s Eternals is now out in theaters, and in addition to introducing us to no less than nine members of the Eternals group, their cosmic counterparts in the monstrous Deviants, and the god-like Celestials that run the show, Eternals also did some surprise introductions to a variety of pivotal new characters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of those reveals leaked before Eternals ever got into theaters – but others have been big surprises saved for the film – and there is one that only came out after director Chloe Zhao revealed it following Eternals‘ release! 

Needless to say: Some Major Eternals SPOILERS Follow! 

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1. Infinity Watchman

The Mid-credits scene of Eternals introduced two new Marvel comics cosmic characters to the MCU. The first we’ll highlight is Pip The Troll.

Eternals members Thena (Angelina Jolie), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), and Druig (Barry Keoghan) head off-world to free other Eternals across the galaxy from their unholy service to the Celestials. Their ship is boarded when a drunken, troll-sized creature with a full glass of ale (and Patton Oswalt’s voice) teleports aboard. 

In the comics, Pip the Troll was an ex-prince (Gofern) who was turned into a troll during a drunken bender. Instead of repenting and embracing things like the Universal Church of Truth, Pip instead embraced the hedonistic debauchery of his new existence – until he met Adam Warlock, Gamora, Thanos, and other Marvel cosmic figures that give him a new purpose: serving Warlock’s Infinity Watch. That cosmic team had each of its members serve as guardian of one of the Infinity Stones, with Pip holding the Space Gem, which gave him incredible teleportation abilities. 

It’s not clear from Eternals‘ post-credits scene if the MCU Pip has natural teleporting abilities or if he is somehow in possession of the Space Stone (from the Tesseract) now. Many fans expect Pip to next pop up in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. 

2. Brother Titan

The worst-kept secret of Marvel’s Eternals is that pop star musician Harry Styles has joined the MCU as Starfox – aka Eros of Titan, the brother of Thanos.  

Starfox is the real star that Pip the Troll is escorting, grand introductions and all. Starfox makes contact with Thena’s squad with an offer to help them track down Cersei, Kingo, and Phastos and save them from the judgment of the Celestial Arishem, who has taken those three Eternals off-world to measure their memories of Earth. 

Of course, Marvel fans know that making a pact with Starfox is probably a double-edged sword for the Eternals. Thanos’ brother may be heroic, but his powers to control the emotions of others has also helped him live up to his namesake of being a fox, and even formed a cosmic hit squad (the Dark Guardians) to kill Gamora, when it was thought her body could be used for Thanos’ resurrection. Ironically, it turns out to be Starfox who is the vessel for his evil brother’s return – which could mean ominous things for Harry Styles’ arc in the MCU. 

“Harry as Eros was very much a package deal for me,” Zhao told Deadline. “I pitched the idea of Pip the Troll [voiced by Patton Oswalt in Eternals] and Eros to Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] a while back. I love the idea of exploring an Eternal who is beyond Titan and who may have influenced Thanos throughout the years the same way [the] Eternals influenced us, earthlings.” 

3. The Dark Knight

Eternals features Game of Thrones star Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, a man working at the Natural History Museum in London, who falls in love with Cersei during the modern-day era of her life. While Dane has to take a backseat to Cersei reuniting with her Eternals family and averting worldly Apocalypse, he is front-row-and-center for the moment when Arishem The Judge snatches Cersei, Phastos and Kingo and takes them off-world. In order to save Cersei, Dane goes back to his classroom in a post-credits scene and has to face the dilemma of finally taking up his secret family heirloom: The Ebony Blade. 

If you don’t know, in Marvel Comics Dane Whitman is known as the hero The Black Knight. Whitman’s lineage connects him to the Ebony Blade, whose mystical powers do everything from heal the Black Knight from any injury, to making him able to cut through virtually any substance – from the strongest Marvel metals like Vibranium and Adamantium to mystical barriers, armors, and spells, or even intangible entities like ghosts. The Faustian bargain of it all is that the Ebony Blade is also cursed; the original Black Knight (Dane’s ancestor) spilled so much blood in his time that his sword took on a blood curse. The powers of the Ebony Blade are fueled by the blood and souls of those killed by it – a bloodlust that is never able to be fulfilled. So in a sense, the Black Knight’s greatest asset is also his greatest weakness. 

It now looks like Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman will have to accept both the gift and the curse of Black Knight in order to help save his love, Cersei. 

4. The Daywalker (Returns)

After Eternals was released in theaters, it was revealed in an interview with Chloe Zhao that the mid-credits with Dane Whitman considering his future as Black Knight was actually Marvel character two-fer! 

The Eternals post-credits scene ended with a mystery character (off-screen, never seen) coming into Dane’s classroom with the ominous question of whether or not he is truly ready for the grave weight of the Ebony Blade. Who was that new MCU character? 

“That was the voice of one of my favorite superheroes, Mr. Blade himself. Blade, Blade, Blade, yeah!” Zhao confirmed to Fandom. 

Mahershala Ali is taking on the MCU Reboot of Blade under director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli), from a script by Watchmen TV series writer Stacy Osei-Kuffor. How Blade and Black Knight will be linked in the MCU remains to be seen… 

Eternals is now in theaters.