Eternals 2 hasn't been officially confirmed by Marvel yet, and even its stars seem a bit confused whether the sequel is happening.
Back in August 2022, Patton Oswalt – who appeared in the credit scene of the first movie as Pip the Troll – said that Eternals 2 had been announced, leading Marvel fans to think he might have spoiled a D23 Expo announcement.
However, that never happened and in November 2022, Kumail Nanjiani poured even more cold water on those comments.
"I don't think Patton was right. I think that there was a hoax website – one of those where it's like one letter off from the real one. They tweeted it, and it spread around and I think that's what Patton saw," he told The Playlist.
"I honestly don't know anything. I would love for Kingo to come back. I love playing that character."
Despite mixed reviews from fans and critics alike, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Eternals return, as the first movie certainly sets up a sequel.
The future of the MCU has been laid out through to Phase Six, at least in part, and Eternals 2 wasn't part of the announcements at Comic-Con or D23 Expo, but that doesn't rule anything out as those focused on Phase Five, mostly.
With that in mind, here's what we know so far about a possible Eternals 2.
Eternals 2 potential release date: When might we expect Eternals 2?
Given that it hasn't been confirmed yet by Marvel, we don't have a confirmed release date for Eternals 2, but we will be waiting until at least late 2024 or probably early 2025.
The MCU has a pretty packed Phase Five schedule, yet there might be room for the sequel in Phase Six as we only know that it'll open with Deadpool 3 and will wrap up with two Avengers films in 2025.
Eternals 2 could be one of those unconfirmed movies for Phase Six – or we might have to wait for Phase Seven to start in 2026.
Eternals 2 cast: Who could return for Eternals 2?
We'd expect most of the cast back in the sequel if it's confirmed, but the first movie wasn't without its casualties.
Salma Hayek's Ajak was killed by Deviants (thanks to a helping hand by Ikaris) and lead Deviant Kro (voiced by Bill Skarsgård) killed Don Lee's Gilgamesh.
After seeing the error of his ways, Richard Madden's Ikaris flew into the sun at the movie's climax, seemingly to his death. Given their 7,000-year history, none of the deaths rule out returns in flashbacks though.
That's it for deaths, but Lia McHugh's Sprite was turned into a human by Sersi which potentially rules out a return. If Sprite does return, it could well be that the role is recast from McHugh.
We can expect to see the rest of the Eternals return, so that's Gemma Chan's Sersi, Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo, Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos, Lauren Ridloff's Makkari, Barry Keoghan's Druig and Angelina Jolie's Thena.
Kit Harington is also sure to be back as Dane Whitman, potentially as the Black Knight as hinted at in the movie's post-credits scene (more on that in a bit).
Talking of the credits scenes, the sequel will have an extra burst of star power in the form of Harry Styles, who made his MCU debut as Eros, aka Starfox, aka the brother of Thanos in the mid-credits scene.
However, he recently cast doubt on his return to the MCU, saying he wasn't sure when he'd do another movie. Marvel producer Nate Moore has said that there is a future for Eros in the MCU though.
If Styles is back, then we'd assume Patton Oswalt would also return as the voice of Pip the Troll.
Eternals 2 plot: What will Eternals 2 be about?
While the first movie took a lot of inspiration from Jack Kirby's comics, it largely told its own story which makes it tricky to look to the comics for what will happen in the sequel.
Luckily, we can just focus on the cliffhanger ending of the first movie.
After defying their leader (and creator) Arishem and stopping Tiamut from destroying Earth, the Eternals go their separate ways and assume everything is over for now. They're very mistaken though as Arishem takes Sersi, Kingo and Phastos from Earth.
Arishem tells them that he plans to look into their memories to judge whether humanity is worthy of survival, much like in the comics where he's a Celestial who judges whether any planet's civilisation deserves to live or die.
For some reason, Makkari, Druig and Thena avoid Arishem as they're on board the Eternals' ship, the Domo, heading off to tell other Eternals what they learned about their true nature.
In the mid-credits scene, they talk about how Sersi, Kingo and Phastos have "disappeared" and assume Arishem has something to do with it. Enter Eros who arrives on the Domo with promises that he can help them find their friends.
While Eros and the Eternals might pop up in other MCU movies, this feels like a direct set-up for Eternals 2, rather than another MCU project. They could well be joined by the Black Knight as the post-credits scene sees Dane go to touch the Ebony Blade.
Talking to Digital Spy, Harington said he didn't know what the future holds, but didn't rule out coming back as the Black Knight.
"The way I live my life is trying to live in the present, especially with work, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm Dane Whitman in this movie and go and see the movie and you might find out a bit more," he noted.
"I wanted to be part of the MCU and this franchise to hopefully have a future where there's a bit more to Dane than him being human, so I hope that's coming down the line."
Eternals 2 trailer: Any Eternals 2 footage yet?
As we mentioned above, Eternals 2 hasn't been confirmed yet, let alone started filming, so you'll be waiting a while.
Eternals is available to watch now on Disney+.
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Ian Sandwell
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
Gabriella Geisinger
Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance journalist and film critic, and was previously Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. She loves Star Wars, coming-of-age stories, thrillers, and true crime. A born and raised New Yorker, she also loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.