What Does Marvel's Eternals Mean For The Rest Of Phase 4?

We can now say that Marvel's Phase 4 is well and truly underway after four TV shows and three movies all dropping within the same year. Still, the sheer volume of MCU content that has been released this year makes the fact that we really don't have a ton of information about Phase 4 all the more baffling. We still don't know which (if any) team will form to replace the decimated Avengers, we don't know who of the newly introduced villains will be the biggest threat, and we don't know how the multiverse will come into play.

To top it all off, we still have one more show and one more movie around the corner--Hawkeye, premiering at the end of this month on Disney+ and Spider-Man: No Way Home hitting theaters in December.

Despite these continued mysteries, The Eternals did provide some clues--and some pertinent information--as to our own ongoing understanding of Phase 4. The questions may not be completely answered--and in fact, there are even more in the mix now--but we are able to see more of the big picture now that these new characters have entered the MCU officially. So, with that in mind, we broke down some of the biggest new concepts, information, and potential clues Eternals put in the spotlight for the rest of Phase 4.

We've already got Kang the Conqueror in the mix thanks to the Loki TV show, so that's one major threat that's well on the way, but now the Celestials have officially entered the fray. It's not difficult to guess that we're going to continue having issues with them as Phase 4 continues--but it will be interesting to see exactly how those problems manifest. After all, the Celestials aren't entirely "evil," more just deeply neutral to the point of being what a human would call sociopathic.

We've already seen them, in fact--kind of. In the comics, Thanos is an Eternal from the planet Titan--but the movie has drastically changed what the definition of an "Eternal" actually is for the MCU, so this is a bit of a mystery. It could possibly reframe our understanding of Thanos retroactively, or mean something in the multiverse we'll soon be encountering. That said, another Eternal is already in the mix because…

This leaked before the movie was released, so we're sorry if you were spoiled in advance--but the rumors are true: Harry Styles has joined the MCU as Eros, AKA Starfox, brother of Thanos and an Eternal himself. Though, again, it's extremely difficult to say what that actually means in the context of the MCU, given how much the Eternal's lore has been shifted. In the comics, Eros has the ability to emotionally manipulate people (like, psychically, not just by gaslighting them and being passive aggressive--though he's plenty good at that too) so look out for that as he continues forward.

Dane Whittman's family legacy is definitely coming back to haunt him, as we saw in the final post-credits scene. The sword he was contemplating was the Ebony Blade, which has powers similar to the One Ring--it makes you incredibly strong but feeds off negative emotion and corrupts you in the process. Though we obviously can't be sure if that version of the Ebony Blade will be what ends up in the MCU or not, it's pretty obvious that Dane was nervous for a reason.

Apparently that voice heard speaking to Dane was actually Blade, played by Mahershala Ali. Ali was announced way back in 2019 but since then, no news has come about the Blade project. So, despite having not actually appeared on screen yet, we're going to take this as a win.

Not every Eternal took to the stars after Tiamut was "defeated." Sprite may have become a human herself, but Kingo, Phastos, and Sersei (kind of, we'll get to that in a second) are still calling Earth home. Sersei may have been unceremoniously abducted by Arishem, prompting Dane's attempt at a rescue mission, but Kingo and Phastos are still kicking around. They'll need to make some necessary introductions to characters like Sam Wilson and Shang-Chi if they want to continue to keep Earth safe.

We're not sure where the Eternals who took off are headed, other than to find other Eternals--but there are plenty of MCU heroes out in space for them to connect with. The Guardians and Thor were last seen heading out to look for Gamora, who is obviously tied to Thanos, who is an Eternal (at least in the comics) and brother of Eros, who just crashed the Eternals' ship. While it might be a stretch to hope for Thena, Druig, and Makkari to show up in Guardians 3 or Thor 4 as main characters, they could be around.

If there's one consistent thing about Phase 4 thus far, it's that big consequences are part of the deal. Gone are the days when "solo" MCU movie villains and events happen (relatively) within their own respective bubbles--now we have things like Loki screwing up the Multiverse and Wanda uncovering her reality-warping potential. These things may not be quite as dramatic as half the population of the universe disappearing, but the precedent has been set. Cascading consequences are the name of the game.

So, even if we disregard the fact that Arishem is now pissed about the "failed" birth of Tiamut, there's likely going to be some ongoing issues with his almost-emergence. After all, you can't just add that much ice to Earth's oceans and--presumably--accomplish most of an apocalyptic volcano without some fallout.