Over the decades, the Marvel Universe has been home to countless powerful teams. But not all groups have lasted, and many more have formed as a means to an end. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this direction could be a fantastic way to introduce another short-lived team and give them a purpose that could justify how powerful they were. And the best part is that it could get done in a film like Eternals 2.
In the first Eternals, the film ended with half of the team remaining on Earth before being kidnapped by Arishem, and the second half traveling to space to find fellow Eternals and warn them of what the Celestials were doing. However, the space group got stopped by Starfox, who sent them on a mission to save their friends from Arishem. But with Eternals 2 seemingly confirmed, this could be the start of a new era for the team and the perfect chance for them to cross paths with the larger MCU.
During a particular run of Guardians of the Galaxy by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, Thanos had recently been killed but revealed to his brother Starfox that he planned to resurrect himself in the body of another. That spurned Starfox to create his own team of Dark Guardians, consisting of Gladiator, Wraith, Frank Castle from Earth-TRN666 and Nebula, to kill Thanos’ potential vessel. However, when it got revealed that Eros was the vessel, it caused the Guardians and Dark Guardians to join forces to fight the Black Order and Hela and stop Thanos’ grand plan.
While this worked well in the comics, the MCU’s landscape isn’t as secure and has left the door open for new iterations of these stories and teams to form. For example, Wraith, Gladiator and Cosmic Ghost Rider have yet to get introduced. However, Starfox could easily have Makkari, Druig and Thena take their places because they’re strong and know how dangerous Thanos could be. That said, there’s still a matter of what will be left of the Guardians come Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. With it unclear who could live or die, it’s possible that some of the more important players could get swapped and include new names like Nova, Adam Warlock and Beta Ray Bill.
Nevertheless, having these Eternals and potentially Nebula, Rocket and Gamora join the team, the Dark Guardians could have a cold-blooded roster that would stop at nothing to ensure Thanos wouldn’t return. Plus, it could offer a chance for a new Black Order to form since everyone got destroyed in Avengers: Endgame. That said, no matter who the enemy could be or how the story could unfold, it’d be clear that the best outcome from this would be that both the Guardians and Eternals could have a clearer picture of where each franchise is going.
There’s no doubt that a new Eternals story should focus solely on the Eternals and their interactions with others and the MCU. However, there’s no reason it shouldn’t also set up the future and give the group an opportunity to strive for a more present purpose, like stopping the return of Thanos. Now that the Eternals no longer have to obey Arishem, they could interfere with the world as much as they’d like and ensure no other world-ending events should take place. In the process, it would also be the chance to introduce a powerful and violent team no one would expect.