Summary
Harry Styles made a surpriseMCUdebut three years ago inEternalsand hasn’t been so much as mentioned since - but Marvel may have just wasted the easiest way to bring him back.Eternalswas one of the first MCU movies in a post-Infinity Saga landscape, but unfortunately fell relatively flat compared to themoney-spinning standard set by most MCU movies. The future of the eponymous heroes in the MCU is now unclear, with severalMCU plot threads still hangingas a result.
One of the most prominent of these appeared in theEternalsmid-credits scene. This scene sawHarry Styles debuting as Eros aka Starfox, an Eternal and the brother of Thanos in Marvel Comics. The scene saw him briefly appear alongside Patton Oswalt’s Pip the Troll, with the star power of the two alone teasing an imminent return to the MCU. This finally occurred as part of an unusual spin-off, but Starfox’s return sidestepped the opportunity to reestablish the relevance of Styles' involvement.
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Starfox’s What If Return Would’ve Been The Easiest Way To Reference The Main MCU Character
What If…? – An Immersive Storyis a mixed-reality video game that was released exclusively on the Apple Vision Pro, utilizing theWhat If…?animated show to depict all-new MCU stories that take place in alternate realities. One moment within the video game depicts Starfox’s return, as revealed below viaThe Cine Geekon Twitter/X:
The scene shows Thanos being held captive after attempting to steal the Reality Stone from Xandar. Starfox, as Thanos' brother, attempts to sway the body tasked with deciding Thanos' fate to vote in Thanos' interests before the Mad Titan breaks free from his shackles and steals the Reality Stone regardless (which was bafflingly left within his reach).
What If…? – An Immersive Storywas released on May 30.
Notably,this version of Starfox was not so much as voiced by Harry Styles. TheWhat If…?show on Disney+ has a track record of having MCU actors reprise their roles, with the likes of A-Listers like Cate Blanchett lending their voices to the project. Despite this, Harry Styles is neither involved in this reappearance of his MCU character nor has Marvel Studios even attempted to make the animated version resemble the pop star. This reestablishes the question of whetherMarvel intends to bring Styles backat all following his brief cameo inEternals.
Will Harry Styles' Starfox Ever Return To The MCU?
The most likely place where Harry Styles would return as Eros is as part of anEternalssequel. Marvel has yet to confirmwhetherEternals 2is even in production, casting doubt over whether it will ever happen following a lackluster response to the team’s debut. On the other hand, the studio also hasn’t ruled it out. In fact, Kevin Feige has said that he is “excited” to see Eros return to the MCU as recently as November 2023 but stopped short of stating when or where that would be.
Harry Styles recently announced he was taking a break from acting, which may indicate why he wasn’t involved in theWhat If…?project.
Given the MCU is about to lean into the distinctly cosmic implications of the multiverse, it is hard to see how the Eternals and Eros won’t somehow factor in. Whether this will be part of an entireEternalssequel or as participants in another project entirely - such as in theupcoming Nova show, orAvengers: Secret Wars- remains to be seen. Despite not being included inWhat If…? – An Immersive Story,however, Styles' Starfox could still reappear in the upcomingWhat If…?season 3.
Eternals
Cast
Eternals, directed by Chloé Zhao, follows a group of ancient aliens who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years. The film explores their reunion in the face of an unexpected tragedy and the threat posed by their age-old adversaries, the Deviants. Released in 2021, the film expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
