This week, Marvel fans are gearing up for another blockbuster in the cinematic universe, and this one is a biggie.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps, starring the man of the season, Pedro Pascal, is a new venture for the MCU and could likely set up some key character moments for the timeline. The question is, if this happens… will any of them come to fruition?
Marvel has been guilty of setting up surprising twists, often in the form of post-credits scenes, and then just leaving them to fester. In the Infinity Saga, this wasn’t really the case, with a quick look back at most of the films in this period seeming to confirm that most threads set up were paid off in some form or another.
This has mainly started to become a problem during the Multiverse Saga, which massively expanded the universe with the introduction of Disney+ shows. Since then, Marvel has chopped and refined many of its projects and delayed others, the reasons for which vary.
As you’ll see, much behind-the-scenes drama may have played a large role in some of the forgotten MCU character moments that have been set up. MCU boss Kevin Feige recently gave an interview with Variety addressing a few of these things, but if I’m being honest, a few of his arguments sound like porkies. Let’s address them together.
That weird Harry Styles cameo as Eros/Star Fox
Of all the actors I was expecting to appear as a major character in the post-credits scene of Eternals, popstar and former One Direction member Harry Styles was the last person to cross my mind (and thank god I avoided the leaks, because that gave me a good laugh).
Styles is introduced by a drunken Pip the Troll (voiced by Patten Oswald) as the brother of Thanos, the ultimate villain from Infinity War and Endgame. His character is called Eros of Titan, who is also known as Star Fox.
After briefly flirting with Angelena Jolie’s character, Thena, Eros holds up a glowing yellow orb and discusses how the rest of the Eternals are in big trouble, but that he knows where to find them.
At the time, it was assumed that this cameo would set up a second Eternals film. Sadly, due to poor performance (and ongoing refinement of the universe), this feels unlikely, with most rumours suggesting Eternals 2 has been cancelled from Marvel’s upcoming slate.
Feige addressed this cameo, among others, in the Variety article above:
When a reporter responded that the inclusion of those characters indicates a promise that they would return at some point, Feige brought up the return of Tim Blake Nelson’s character Samuel Sterns from 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” for 2025’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” and Rolf Saxon’s character William Donloe from 1996 “Mission: Impossible” for 2025’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
“That is fun to me,” he said. “So let’s talk again in 12 years and see who comes back.”
That is a very non-committal answer and gives Marvel full flexibility to pick and choose when (or even if) these cameos build into something more.
In that quote, Feige was also referencing Charlize Theron’s Clea, who cameoed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, it’s more certain that Clea will be paid off as Doctor Strange 3 looks likely to happen. There is another character from Ironheart discussed, but I won’t spoil that as it’s very recent.
As for Harry Styles, with the omission of Eternals 2, it sounds like he could reappear when you least expect him. Brace yourselves.
Scorpion teased as a live-action Spider-Man villain
Remember earlier when I said that most films in the Infinity Saga have paid off their set-ups? There is one major outlier from Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is now eight years old.
In a post-credits scene, we see Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) in prison. He is approached by another inmate called Mac Gargan (Michael Mando), who tries to convince Toomes to share Peter’s identity so he can get revenge for being arrested, along with the new knarly scar he has. Crucially, Gargan has a scorpion tattooed on his neck – a clear indication that this character was meant to be the iconic villain from the comics with the same name.
But there is a good reason why Scorpion has never been revisited. Spider-Man is under joint ownership with Sony and Disney, something that has been a major problem over the years, with specific characters not being allowed to crossover into the MCU due to a drawn-out licensing war.
With Disney getting the rights to live-action Peter Parker, Sony instead decided to focus on a group of villains and anti-heroes. While Tom Hardy’s Venom series performed strongly, most of the others fell flat on their faces. Perhaps one that plummeted the hardest was Morbius, starring Jared Leto.
Despite all the memes of it making 1 morbillion dollars at the box office, this movie tanked and was generally seen as a joke. Therefore, it was a very bad idea to reintroduce Keaton as Vulture, who had somehow crossed over to this multiverse, looking to “team up” with Morbius. There was speculation at the time that this was a build-up towards a Sinister Six film, a faction Scorpion may have made the cut for.
I highly doubt that Disney wants any part in the Morbin’ time, so it would be a surprise to see Mando pop back up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day next summer. After all, it’s now confirmed that this film will feature Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, so many fans are hopeful for a Spider-Man and Kingpin showdown to come to fruition rather than the return of Scorpion.
Sharon Carter’s Power Broker mystery
Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) is no stranger to the Marvel universe, that’s for certain. The great-niece of Peggy Carter has been operating within S.H.I.E.L.D. and came to the aid of Steve Rogers on several occasions. That said, 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier revealed a major twist to her story that so far has not been paid off in any way.
Sam and Bucky spent a lot of the show trying to discover information about the elusive Power Broker, who was trying to sell Super Soldier Serum. At first, the audience was led to believe that Carter worked for the Power Broker in Madripoor. Eventually, the series dropped the bomb that Carter was the mastermind the whole time.
She took on the role after feeling betrayed by the US government due to her being made a fugitive during the events of Captain America: Civil War, causing her to be on the run for eight years.
Carter’s double life was never discovered by Sam and Bucky. In fact, she was pardoned by the government. But that wasn’t enough to earn her forgiveness, as a scene revealed her on the phone to black market buyers, ready to sell insider secrets and prototype weapons to the highest bidder.
While it was a decent twist at the time, Carter’s Power Broker alter ego has never come up again, despite there being two movies featuring the same heroes she fooled: Captain America: Brave New World with Sam Wilson, and Thunderbolts* with Bucky Barnes.
Perhaps Feige is saving Carter for an Avengers-level threat to make things complicated with the government… or she’s simply been put on the back burner for now.
The whole Blade thing
The one movie that’s got more question marks about it than any other upcoming MCU project, and that’s Blade, starring Mahershala Ali. It’s been delayed multiple times (now indefinitely), has cycled through two directors and a whopping six different writers.
The daywalker vampire hunter was first teased in Eternals (which, as we know, is already a problem), during a scene with Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington), also known as the Black Knight. Dane is shown opening a box containing a sword that is meant to be the Ebony Blade, an enchanted weapon from Arthurian times that can bring a wielder back to life.
Before he can lift it out, someone offscreen says, “Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?” – the voice of Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks. It’s never explained why the Black Knight and Blade are connected, though in the comics, both are part of the UK’s paranormal agency, MI13, which is led by Captain Britain.
The story of Blade is a topic of contention at Marvel HQ. Sinners producer Sev Ohanian revealed to Screen Crush that the team purchased a bunch of costumes originally meant for Blade, hinting that the film was also possibly intended to be a period vampire tale.
Feige also stated to Variety that the story was simply not up to the standard that the team wanted:
“We didn’t want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires. It had to be unique… It fell into the time when we started pulling back and saying, ‘Only accept insanely great.’ And it wasn’t ‘insanely great’ at the time.”
Ali is still attached to the project, but who knows how long it will be until we get a new Blade in the MCU (though shout out to Wesley Snipes for reprising a multiversal version of the character in Deadpool and Wolverine).
Marvel dropping its biggest villain, Kang
Arguably, the biggest unfinished plot from the Multiverse Saga (that many shows and movies were building towards) is the villain, Kang. He first appeared in the final episode of the Disney+ series Loki season 1 and was a prominent figure in season 2 of the show.
Audience members who stick around solely for the Marvel movies will remember him as the antagonist from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a post-credits scene of which showed a council filled with various Kangs from across the universe. But it’s unlikely that we’ll see any future films revisit this plot.
Actor Jonathan Majors was arrested and charged with harassment and assault. The case was so serious and prominent that Marvel opted to completely change the title of the fifth Avengers film from Kang Dynasty to Doomsday, recruiting MCU royalty Robert Downey Jr. to play Doctor Doom, rather than reprising his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Feige has tried to downplay this change, giving the following quote in the Variety interview:
“We had started to realize that Kang wasn’t big enough, wasn’t Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be that because he was that in the comics for decades and decades… we started talking about Doctor Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. In fact, I had started talking with Robert about this audacious idea before ‘Ant-Man 3’ even came out.”
That does feel quite hard to believe, especially given that Marvel had to change the title of one of its biggest films. Why commit to a name and all those plots if you weren’t sure in the first place? And while Marvel is right not to bring Kang back onscreen, will there be any line about what happened with him and his council?
Either way, Majors is 100% out, so whether the MCU will even address anything about Kang remains to be seen… just like many of the entries on this list.