Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Eternals!
Last month, several reporters lucky enough to attend Eternals’ world premiere in Los Angeles made the questionable decision to write headlines that gave away a major spoiler, which is that singer Harry Styles appears in a post-credits scene as Eros (a.k.a. Starfox), another Eternal who also happens to be the brother of Thanos. Naturally, this ticked off a number of fans, especially since the movie’s theatrical premiere was still a few weeks away. But in typical Marvel fashion, Eternals featured not one, but two post-credits stingers. And with the film officially out in the world, we can officially say that it saved its biggest surprise for last.
Styles wasn’t the only MCU newbie who showed up during Eternals’ credits. The first scene also introduced Patton Oswalt as Pip the Troll. And while old-school Marvel fans should certainly appreciate seeing these two Jim Starlin creations come to life, a bigger bombshell awaited moviegoers in the scene that followed. At first, it looked like Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman would embrace his destiny as the Black Knight. But before he could pick up the Ebony Blade, a voice from offscreen asked, “Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”
Being a post-credits scene, some viewers may have heard this and thought it was Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, here to recruit Harington’s character for a new iteration of the Avengers. But since the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is still presumably onboard a Skrull ship somewhere in deep space, it had to be someone else.
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In fact, the voice belonged to none other than Mahershala Ali, finally making his Marvel movie debut as Blade. And in case there are any skeptics out there, Eternals director Chloé Zhao confirmed Ali’s involvement while speaking to Fandom:
“That was the voice of one of my favorite superheroes, Mister Blade himself,” said Zhao. “Blade, Blade, Blade, yeah!”
Blade is easily one of the most highly-anticipated projects on Marvel’s release calendar. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the studio’s plans for the iconic vampire hunter. However, Bassam Tariq recently signed on to direct the film from a screenplay by Stacy Osei-Kuffour. Kevin Feige previously shared that Ali’s movie won’t hit theaters until Phase Five gets underway. But if they’re already teasing his appearance this early, our first proper look at the character can’t be far off.
Eternals is now playing in theaters everywhere.
Were you happy to hear Ali’s voice in the film’s post-credits scene? Are you excited to see him suit up as Blade? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Eternals by Jack Kirby Vol. 1
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