Welcome to the MCU . . . Harry Styles?! The latest unlikely casting for Marvel’s ever-growing cinematic universe is none other than GQ’s current reigning sartorial champion and global heartthrob, who will reportedly join the ranks of Marvel’s Eternals, set to release on November 5.
Note, this post contains potential spoilers.
According to reports from Monday’s global premiere, Styles will join the MCU in a post-credits tag as Eros, aka Starfox. (No, not the one prone to barrel rolls) Eros is another Eternal, an ancient, undying race of humans tasked with protecting Earth from creatures known as the Deviants—and a brother to MCU baddie Thanos. Eternals will mark the actor’s second major acting effort following Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, ahead of his role in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Baby, which will bow in 2022.
In the comics, Eros grew up on the planet Titan alongside the world-breaker, where he conducted himself in a manner not dissimilar to the actual Greek god of love by having mischievous adventures full of action and womanizing. Thanos’ reign of terror causes Eros to rethink his ways, joining with the Avengers to help the group defeat him. The Eternal eventually traveled to Earth, becoming an Avengers trainee and earning the Starfox codename in the process. Eros shows up sporadically throughout Marvel history, mostly to help in Thanos-related matters.
Eros’ most notable arc is something we don’t imagine will make it over into the MCU—the character is a significant player in a She-Hulk storyline where he’s accused of sexual assault by several women on Earth. Eros’ powers are like other Eternals in that he has superhuman strength, but he also can manipulate the feelings of others. The Dan Slott-written arc sees Eros go on trial, with lawyer Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk (soon to star in her own Disney+ series played by Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany) defending him because the two had a relationship together during their time as Avengers. It’s eventually revealed Eros didn’t use his powers on Jennifer to influence their relationship, but he did manipulate Jen into a romance with J. Jonah Jameson’s son John. Jen hulks out and starts to kick the shit out of him, but not before Eros is captured and taken to trial on Titan. There, Eros is eventually punished for manipulating Thanos’ obsessive love with Death (something the MCU movies didn’t include in his characterization). Eros decides to have his charismatic powers shut off through a physic block in order to ensure he didn’t hurt anyone ever again.
Eros has spent a lot of his recent comic book history interacting with Marvel’s cosmic characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Corps, so there’s a possibility he could show up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. But even in those storylines, he’s far more of a supporting player than an active participant. Casting someone of Styles’ stature sure implies that he’ll have a major role in future events, but not without undergoing a dramatic reimagining for the MCU. In fact, I’m kind of baffled the MCU is even going to acknowledge Eros at all, given how complicated of a character he is.
Nevertheless, we’ll get a better idea of the context of his introduction and what it may mean for the future of the MCU when Eternals releases in just a few weeks.