Eternals’ ending, explained by Marvel’s bigger movie universe

EternalsIt is the oddest installment in Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s based on obscure characters with one of the weirdest backstories in comics, and features a race of creator gods who look like massive bulky robot toys.

It makes perfect sense in certain ways. Eternals would have maybe the weirdest ending of any Marvel movie yet — it’s got a post-credits scene for a final scene, and a clear path toward an Eternals 2Perhaps even larger Avengers 5-ish crossover event). Even so, even MCU enthusiasts might be left scratching their head at the movie’s end. Here’s how to begin to parse out what happened at the end of the EternalsBased on movie continuity and some comics lore,

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Eternals.]

What will happen at the End of Eternals

Image: Marvel Studios

Eternals ends as it does every time in an ensemble blockbuster. The threat of Tiamut’s creation and Earth’s destruction has been avoided and so our heroes must deal with the aftermath of this battle.

Ikaris throws himself in the sun as a self-imposed penance after turning against Arishem. Kingo, who sat out the final battle, adopts Sprite — who is now just a mortal human kid with the memories of an Eternal and has to attend normal human school with a normal human cellphone. Sersi takes a stroll in the park along with Dane Whitman, her human boyfriend.

Dane will soon reveal some surprising news about Sersi OwnUnhappiness when everything seems to stop working out as planned.

Image: Marvel Studios

Arishem, the Eternals’ robot dad, scoops Sersi and several other characters out into space with him — some who participated in killing Tiamut, and some who didn’t, like Kingo and Sprite. These were all very unruly and so, so grounded. Arishem is taking them away for a while, but says that he will return to Earth at some point in the future, to judge whether or not they were right, and if humanity’s potential was truly worth more than the potential of the worlds and galaxies Tiamut might have created.

The movie then ends.

What does this mean for Eternals 2, you ask?

Celestials have a reputation for evaluating the ethical worth and potential value of entire planets of sentients. The ending of Marvel Comics is in a sense the same as that of EternalsThis is more in line with how Marvel Comics superheroes meet Celestials for the first time: as humongous, unfeasible cosmic judges.

One of Eternals’ post credits scenes further indicates that the next time we see the Eternals, they’ll be concerned with whatever Arishem has planned, as Druig, Thena, and Makkari meet a couple of unusual allies who say they can help them locate their missing friends. This could happen in the sequel. EternalsIt could be anything, but it is possible to make it more.

After all, what’s a bigger threat than Thanos, the outcast Eternal? Well, there’s always the nigh-omnipotent Celestials who created the Eternals in the first place. Marvel writers over the years have certainly found ways to blend the superheroic world with cosmic elements.