Eternals post-credits character reveal teases the return of Thanos

In the post-credits of Eternals, which opens in theaters on November 5, the Eternals meet another one of their kind. What this will lead to is unclear for now, but the borderline stunt casting of the role guarantees that this new mystery character is far from a one-off appearance.

Here is all you need to know about the surprise mystery character of Eternals played by a pop megastar.

Warning: Spoilers for Eternals ahead.

The brother of Thanos has just done a barrel roll into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the first of two credits scenes attached to Eternals, the remaining Eternals are greeted by a surprise visitor. Two, actually.

The first is Pip the Troll (more on him in a future article), whose only purpose here is to introduce Starfox, also known as Eros of Titan. Starfox/Eros is played by singer Harry Styles, which is bound to elicit screams from any One Direction fans in your theater.

As he’s introduced by Pip, Starfox/Eros is the “royal prince of Titan, brother of Thanos, the knave of hearts, and defeater of Black Robert.” (He means Black Roger, known as “Dark Roger” in the comics.) “The great adventurer, Starfox!”

It isn’t quite clear why Eros and Pip have shown up, but Eros warns that “your friends are in big trouble. We know where to find them.”

Who is Starfox/Eros?

Starfox/Eros was created by Jim Starlin in Invincible Iron Man #55 (1972). In the comics, he’s exactly who Pip says he is: an Eternal who is also the brother of Thanos. But unlike his brother, Eros never wanted supreme, cosmic power to wipe out half the universe. He only wants to dally across space and sleep with anything that moves. When Thanos went on one of his villainous campaigns, Eros would sometimes be there to fight back.

Being an Eternal, Eros has the power to control people’s emotions. (For this reason, the casting of Harry Styles is a stroke of brilliance.) This has gotten him in trouble. In the pages of Dan Slott’s She-Hulk from 2005, Eros was put on trial for using his powers to sleep with a married woman. His defense attorney was She-Hulk (soon to be played by Tatiana Maslany in her own Disney+ series), who also found that her own actions — falling in love and marrying J. Jonah Jameson’s son — had been caused by Starfox.

Believe it or not, Thanos appeared at the trial, testifying that Starfox was the reason for his original infatuation with Lady Death. (Unlike in the MCU, comic book Thanos wanted the Infinity Stones/Gems to impress the female personification of Death, not because resources were depleting.) This turned out to be a false memory planted by Thanos. Eventually, Starfox agrees to have his powers shut off to prevent potentially harming anyone further.

Starfox was recently murdered by Gamora in 2019 in the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy to prevent the resurrection of Thanos. (Long story.) But fret not, no one stays dead in comic books for very long.

What is Harry Styles (Eros) doing in the MCU?

With the Infinity Saga wrapped up, it is quite odd the MCU would introduce Thanos’ brother now after Thanos himself met his demise in Avengers: Endgame.

With Phase Four of the MCU being so open-ended as well, it’s difficult to parse out what narrative purpose Eros serves for the larger tapestry. (And it’s doubtful that Disney-owned Marvel would adapt a difficult storyline like Eros’ sexual assault allegations.) But his presence does suggest that the Eternals aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Eternals opens in theaters on November 5.