“Eternals” is about to hit theaters this week, and with it, the world is going to be introduced to nearly a dozen new superhero-types over the course of the film’s 157 minutes. Without going into spoilers, it’s safe to say that Marvel Studios tends to end each of its films with a clear direction for a sequel and “Eternals” is no different. That said, one of the producers on the film revealed that a sequel would be nice, but Marvel Studios is okay with letting the “Eternals” franchise end after this film.
Speaking to the Toronto Sun, longtime Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore opened up about the future of “Eternals.” And by future, he means there COULD be sequels to the film, but that is definitely not a guarantee like you see with some of the previous Marvel Studios projects.
“[An ‘Eternals’ sequel is] not something that is a must-have,” said Moore. “Obviously, we have ideas of where we could go, but there isn’t a hard and fast rule where we have to have three of these things and this is the first.”
As Moore said, there are definitely plenty of seeds planted in “Eternals” that could lead to future stories with these characters. However, unlike we’ve seen with projects like the upcoming “Ms. Marvel,” which directly feeds into “The Marvels” and “WandaVision” which directly feeds into both “The Marvels” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” there doesn’t seem to be a roadmap for the “Eternals” characters that is ready-made. That said, if this film does $1 billion at the box office, you better believe a sequel will quickly get the green light.
So, where might a sequel go? Well, that ventures into spoiler territory and speculation is for a later date. However, one thing Moore is willing to tease is the future of Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman character. The actor himself has already said that he’s unsure if his “Eternals” character will continue on in the MCU, but it appears Moore thinks Harington’s character, who is a superhero called Black Knight in the Marvel Universe, will likely get explored further down the line.
“He’s not going to be Black Knight necessarily, but that is something that we get to play with down the road,” teased Moore.
While we don’t know the box office future of “Eternals” and if the characters have a big future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this time, early reviews have not been super kind to the film, with the feature flirting with “rotten” status on Rotten Tomatoes. So, based on reviews alone, it might be difficult for Marvel Studios to plan out a big “Eternals” roadmap in the MCU moving forward. It might be up to audience response to see what happens.
“Eternals” hits theaters on November 5.
