Though Chloé Zhao’s The Eternals is still just over ten months away from reaching theaters, it seems that Marvel was subtly teasing this year’s cosmic MCU adventure at least as far back as 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.
This new find comes courtesy of Reddit user Initial_XD, who spotted a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to Jack Kirby’s run on The Eternals just floating around in the background of Taika Waititi’s film. In the still below, you’ll notice a green ship to the right of Valkyrie that bears a clear resemblance to a design from the comics.
Perhaps this inclusion was meant as nothing more than a fan-pleasing Easter egg, though it also wouldn’t be the first time a seemingly inconsequential reference has quietly foreshadowed bigger things in the MCU. For all we know, this might be the only time we ever see this quirky-looking vessel on our screens, but feel free to speculate that it means something more.
In any case, while subtle little Easter eggs are all well and good, Marvel will eventually have to be a lot more direct in promoting their next big property. At the moment, the MCU marketing is all about Black Widow, but once that film drops on May 1st, The Eternals will be the next movie on the agenda, and right now, your average filmgoer could probably tell you next to nothing about this particular corner of the comic book universe.
Of course, we only need to look to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies to know that Disney is fully capable of turning one of Marvel’s lesser known properties into a major blockbuster series, but we’ll see if Kevin Feige and his team can repeat this success when The Eternals hits theaters on November 6th.