Are Disney really torching Harry Styles’ Marvel comeback tour?
Credit: Marvel Studios
Former One Direction boyband member Harry Styles unexpectedly made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) through a surprise cameo, introducing his character Eros in a post-credits scene following the somewhat controversial Eternals (2021).
Led by director Chloé Zhao, the Marvel Comics-inspired movie delves into the adventures of the Eternals, a cadre of godlike extraterrestrials engineered by Celestials to shepherd planets towards growth, development, and (spoiler alert) the propagation of more Celestials.
Credit: Marvel Studios
It features a star-studded cast with Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Salma Hayek as Ajak, and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman (and the forthcoming Black Knight). Additionally, Harry Styles joined the ensemble as another member of the Eternals, revealed to be Eros, alongside Patton Oswalt’s Pip the Troll — with a future story teased during the film’s end credits.
Credit: Marvel
Goodbye, Eternals 2?
This seemingly-natural follow-up to the Eternals film appears to be in trouble over at The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios, as the superhero media giant reshuffles under Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel President Kevin Feige’s attempts to restructure and refocus on “quality over quantity”. This follows the ousting of Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors and reports of “superhero fatigue” (and “bad movie fatigue”) from movie-going audiences.
Credit: Gemma Chan via Instagram
According to known Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK), it appears as if the previously planned Eternals 2 is no longer in development over at Marvel Studios.
ScreenTime relays Richtman’s report on X (formerly Twitter):
‘ETERNALS 2’ is reportedly no longer in development
(via: @DanielRPK)
Considering the first Eternals was often cited as confusing, bloated with too many characters, and one of the MCU’s weakest projects to date, this news might feel like a long time coming for Marvel fans. Interestingly, recent claims from former writers on Eternals indicated that the original film was originally very different (and better), compared to what was eventually put out in theaters.
Seeing as The Marvels (AKA Captain Marvel 2) and Disney+ (Disney Plus) Ms. Marvel star (and self-proclaimed Marvel nerd) Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan) has expressed her doubts about the infamous Styles cameo, and seeing as lore-wise, the Eternals franchise is in further hot waters, nothing in particular is pointing to a strong Eternals presence in the forthcoming MCU storyline.
Additionally, Feige is hell-bent on building up the more “street-level” side of the MCU with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil/Matt Murdock, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man/Peter Parker, and even Anthony Mackie’s new Captain America/Sam Wilson. With further reports of a growing focus on a UK-based group of heroes, it looks like the Eternals‘ cosmic-level story will have to take a backseat, at least for the time being.
