Marvel’s Starfox made a very smooth first appearance in The Eternals mid-credit scene. But who is Eros, and how is he related to Thanos?
The Eternals post-credits scenes introduced many new characters from all corners of the Marvel comics universe. Blade and the Black Knight, plus Pip the Troll, who announced another Eternal. But who is Marvel’s Starfox? And what’s his future role in the MCU?
Created by: Jim Starlin
Starfox’s first appearance: The Invincible Iron Man #55
Powers & Abilities
Eros has the power to manipulate the pleasure center of the people’s minds. He can use these powers to charm information out of people or make them compliant to his will. As you can imagine, that kind of power gets pretty complicated.
Like any Eternal, he also has extra strength and resilience. And like fellow Eternal Icarus, Eros also has the ability to fly.
Who is Eros in the Comics?
In the comics, Eros is the son of two Eternals named Mentor and Sui-San. His big brother is none other than the bedazzled bad guy Thanos. The two brothers are meant to be incarnations of ‘Thanatos & Eros’: death and desire.
So, while Thanos was off and about doing murder things, Eros was living his very best hedonist life all across the galaxy. Along the way, he met fellow party-boy Pip the Troll, the character who introduced Eros in The Eternals.
It was only when his brother launched an attack on their home world Titan that Eros stepped into the role of hero. After traveling to Earth, Eros took the name Starfox. Over the years, he’s been on the Avengers team a few times, and made guest appearances in other Marvel stories.
The Avengers #232 (1963) by Roger Stern & Al Milgrom
Marvel’s Starfox & She-Hulk
Of course, you can imagine that Eros’ power set could create some pretty sticky situations– and not always in a fun way.
In She-Hulk, Eros was put on trial for sexual assault after a married woman accused him of using his powers to seduce her against her will. His father, Mentor, hired Jennifer Walters to defend him.
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Now, She-Hulk is famously called the single green female. She’s a lady who likes to have a good time, so she and Eros have a spicy pants-off history. But as his trial continues, Jennifer becomes suspicious that Eros used his powers to seduce her, too.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Sadly, the story from here gets pretty jumbled. Jen has to get to the bottom of a long and stupid conspiracy by Thanos to frame his brother, and the whole ordeal gets overly macro.
But in the end, Starfox agrees to voluntarily give up his powers of pleasure and persuasion, acknowledging the risk they pose to free will.
What’s Next for Marvel’s Starfox?
Harry Styles has been cast to play the hero in upcoming stories. After his famous mid-credits scene, the hero is certain to appear again– the question is ‘when’?
Eros has plenty of ties to She-Hulk, so he could appear in her Phase 4 series. It’s possible Style’s portrayal of Eros will introduce some helpful conversations about consent into the MCU without moving the courtroom out into the cosmos.
Marvel’s Starfox and his buddy Pip the Troll are certain to have an influence on the future of the MCU. But is it a good one? We won’t know until the character’s next appearance.
Tell us how you think we’ll next see Starfox in the MCU!
Danni is a staff writer and editor whose expertise lies in comic books, superhero movies, science fiction/fantasy, horror, and cheesy dad jokes. They spent 8 glorious years working at Austin Books & Comics, and created content for almost 15 years. They've written for the Daily Dot and made YouTube content with the Weirdlings. Danni currently does all the things for BoLS, Screen Fanatic, and TheStreet.
With Eternals, the MCU moves to a more cosmic focus, away from just Thanos and onto a new set of galactic weirdos, including the Celestials.
But in the Marvel comics, Thanos and the Eternals have a strong connection that may chart a new course for the next phase of the Marvel movies. After an Eternals post-credits scene silently invoked the connection, let’s talk about how Thanos ties into Phase 4, even after his story seemingly ended.
[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for Marvel’s Eternals.]
Thanos’ Eternals lineage
Marvel
In the comics, Thanos is an Eternal, and one from a very important bloodline: His father, Al’ars, was the son of Kronos, who ruled the Eternals of Earth following a civil war that divided the original colony. Following his father’s death, Al’ars traveled the universe as the Mentor.
This took him to Titan, the moon of Saturn, and its own group of Eternals. There, he found the entire planet had been decimated in its own Eternal civil war with one survivor — the Titan Eternal Sui-san. Using a genetic device, the two rebuilt Titan and repopulated it with new Eternal-like beings dubbed Titans; they were stronger and could live longer than the original Titan Eternals, but were still outclassed by the Earth Eternals.
Eventually, Sui-San and Al’ars had two children of their own: Eros (we’ll get to him) and Thanos.
Not an Eternal, not yet a Deviant
Thanos is an Eternal, yes, but he’s also a Deviant. Why? Because genetics!
See, Eternals and Deviants are made from the same batch, and that means there’s eventually some crossover. An Eternal getting a Deviant-like mutation was later dubbed “Deviant Syndrome,” or the way Thanos looks with his purple skin and ridged chin. (Of the two sons, he’s the only one with this condition; Eros looks like a regular Eternal, something that Thanos naturally hated his brother for.) And because the Deviants’ evilness is tied to their biology (yikes), Thanos’ appearance freaked out Sui-san so much that when she first laid eyes on him after giving birth, she went mad and tried to kill him (also yikes!).
In the current Eternals run from Kieron Gillen and Esad Ribić, the genius Phastos discovered that Thanos is actually a “true Eternal,” same as the rest of them. Upon discovering this, Thanos enacted a forceful takeover of the Eternals’ leadership, and used his new powers as Prime Eternal to order them to hook him up to their world engine, thereby granting him the same immortality that they enjoy. Which is all to say: Thanos and the Eternals are inextricably linked in Marvel Comics.
Let’s talk about Eros
Image: Marvel Studios
Created by Jim Starlin and first appearing in 1973’s Invincible Iron Man #55, Eros is Thanos’ younger brother. With good looks and the power to influence other people’s emotions, Eros is both the superhero called Starfox and a massive fuckboi. If he wasn’t helping the Avengers with a crisis, he was being hedonistic as hell in space.
Like many fictional brothers, the two do not like each other, and Thanos will often just capture and torment Eros. They do get along, sometimes: They once had to work together to defeat Thanos’ future self, and they have a truce to meet once a year and bring each other gifts.
What’s this mean for the MCU?
Image: Marvel Studios
Eternals’ first post credits scene shows Thena, Makkari, and Druig on their ship just as they realize that Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo have been taken by the Celestial Arishem. Before they can formulate a plan, they’re interrupted by none other than Eros, played by Harry Styles. Introduced explicitly as Thanos’ brother by his sidekick Pip (Patton Oswalt), Eros offers to help the Eternals save their friends. And his fuckboi nature seems to be intact, as his introduction is set to “Feels Like the First Time” and he flirts with Thena.
Since the film ends with the standard “Eternals will return ...” promise, Eros is probably included in that now, too. Should this movie succeed, it’s possible that Styles is locked in for an Eternals 2, and maybe even his own movie or show. (Surely his absence from the whole Infinity Saga is substantial enough for either.) How he connects to the Celestials and his overall purpose in the MCU remains to be seen, as is whether or not Thanos will pop up again for another Marvel sibling spat. Either way, the Eternals have themselves a new ally against the Celestials. One who will undoubtedly end up causing some trouble for them.