Those plans, sadly, were interrupted by being kidnapped by an intergalactic church, leading to his eventually meeting Thanos, who attempted to kill him by destroying his mind, unaware that he had already escaped inside the Soul Stone.

Pip the Troll, meanwhile, has a far stranger origin story: A prince of an alien planet, he was transformed into a troll after a heavy night of drinking - no, really - and decides to devote his life to debauchery. Suddenly, the Harry Styles casting makes a lot of sense. His primary power as a superhero? Being so charming no one could resist him. It was only after Thanos was seemingly defeated - like all good villains, he came back - that Eros decided to relocate to Earth, where he adopted the name Starfox and joined the Avengers for a period, before eventually returning to Titan. In the aftermath of the Titan Colony’s destruction, Eros dedicated his life to dealing with Thanos. Could this be a hint of things to come in the MCU future?) (This backstory is recapped in its most efficient form in Marvel’s current Eternals comic book series, which also makes the argument that a resurrected Thanos is as much an Eternal as the characters who debuted in the original version of the series - much to the surprise of those Eternals. One of the Titan Eternals who didn’t die, however, was Eros, who, it turns out … is Thanos’ brother. That schism centered around the desire to create new Eternals via what’s euphemistically described as “technological and biological means.” One of the new Eternals made by what became known as the Titan Colony … was Thanos, who then destroyed the colony, killing his parents in the process. In Marvel comic book mythology, Eros is an Eternal himself, albeit one from a faction that’s relocated into space following an ideological break from the majority.

The appearance of Starfox - or, as he’s also known, Eros - makes more sense than it may initially seem to. 'Eternals' Writer Patrick Burleigh Reflects on His Marvel Journey

For longtime Marvel fans, however, it’s possibly the first tease of a story linking multiple franchises inside the larger MCU cosmos. The appearance of Starfox and Pip the Troll - Harry Styles and Patton Oswalt, respectively - at the end of Chloé Zhao’s first Marvel movie may seem surprising to the majority of viewers, most of whom wouldn’t have any idea who these particular characters are, or why they’d show up in an Eternals story.

The surprise moment introduces two fan-favorite characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and teases an unexpected future for these heroes. Marvel Studios was once fond of reminding its audience that “it’s all connected.” That motto has rarely seemed as true as it does in the mid-credits sequence from Eternals.

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