Movies News Talk
Three years ago, Harry Styles made an unexpected MCU début in Eternals; he hasn't been so much as discussed since, but Marvel might have just wasted the easiest approach to bring him back. One of the first MCU films in a post-Infinity Saga environment, Eternals sadly lacked the money-spinning level set by most MCU films. With various MCU story lines left hanging, the destiny of the eponymous heroes in the MCU is yet unknown.
Among these, one of the more noticeable ones showed in the Eternals middle-credits scene. Harry Styles first appeared in Marvel Comics as Eros, also known as Starfox, an Eternal and Thanos's brother. He appeared momentarily alongside Patton Oswalt's Pip the Troll in the sequence, with the star power of the two alone hinting a future MCU comeback. This finally happened as part of an odd spin-off, but Starfox's comeback avoided the chance to restore Styles' importance.
Released only on the Apple Vision Pro, the mixed-reality video game What If...? - An Immersive Story uses the animated show What If...? to portray all-new MCU stories set in other dimensions. One instant in the video game shows Starfox's comeback, as The Cine Geek on Twitter/X shows below:
Thanos is shown in the scene captive following an attempt at theft of the Reality Stone from Xandar. As Thanos' brother, Starfox tries to influence the body assigned to decide Thanos' destiny to vote in Thanos' interests before the Mad Titan breaks free from his chains and snatches the Reality Stone regardless (which was shockingly left within his reach). What if...? May 30 saw the publication of An Immersion Story.
As part of an Eternals sequel, Harry Styles most certainly would resurfaced as Eros. Marvel has not officially confirmed whether Eternals 2 is even in development, thereby casting question on whether it will ever materialize given a poor reception of the team's debut. The studio has not ruled it out, either though. Kevin Feige has remarked, in fact, that he is "excited" to see Eros return to the MCU as recently as November 2023 but omitted to say where or when that would occur.
Harry Styles recently said he was on a vacation from acting, which could explain his absence from the What If...? initiative. Given the MCU is set to tilt into the distinctly cosmic implications of the multiverse, it is difficult to see how the Eternals and Eros won't somehow play a role. Whether this will be part of a whole Eternals sequel or as players in another project entirely, say in the forthcoming Nova show, or Avengers: Secret Wars, is yet unknown. Though not mentioned in What If...? - An Immersive Story, Styles's Starfox might yet show up in the next What If...? season 3.
Especially, this Starfox variant did not reflect Harry Styles' voice. With MCU actors like A-Listers like Cate Blanchett providing their voices to the project, the Disney+ What If...? show has a history of having MCU actors reprising their roles. Harry Styles is neither involved in this comeback of his MCU character nor has Marvel Studios even tried to make the animated version look like the pop singer. This begs the issue of whether Marvel plans to bring Styles back at all after his fleeting appearance in Eternals.
Marvel's busy music career makes it reasonable that he might be reluctant to commit to a large role for Styles, but What If...? would have been the ideal chance to keep him in public view. Styles' involvement would have created a lot of hype and reminded viewers of his MCU connection, so a voice-over for a multiverse Starfox would not have been a major dedication on his side. It would have been a wise action, creating more significant expectation for his comeback.
Part of the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eternals marks 25th installment. When the ten Eternals finish the task assigned to them by the Celestial Arishem to eradicate the invading alien species known as Deviants that prowl the planet, the group chooses to split ways since they find themselves at conflict with how they should keep interacting with humans as they develop and learn. Over 500 years ago Living their existence in the current era until the Deviants reappearance, the Eternals blend among civilization. Events are set in motion that will bring one of the Eternals back once more to find out why the Deviants have returned and what the actual objectives of the Celestial have been for all these millennia when one of them is ostensibly killed by a deviant.
Though Styles's omission from What If...? represents a lost chance, Marvel's ideas for Starfox remain under wraps. Unquestionably, Starfox has more opportunity to be involved as the MCU spreads into the multiverse. There are countless opportunities, and supporters are excited to see what this beautiful and strong Eternal has ahead.