Although it isn’t mandatory, virtually every installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will feature connective tissue of some kind, whether it’s as innocuous as a brief line of dialogue referencing a certain character or event, or a full-blown cameo from one of the franchise’s familiar faces.
We know that Eternals is going to be directly influenced and impacted by the events of Avengers: Endgame, with mentions of Thanos and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes peppered throughout the various trailers and TV spots, but there’s been virtually no rumors of surprise guests or potential nods towards future movies or Disney Plus shows.
In a set visit interview via ComicBook, longtime Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore addressed whether or not we should expect the upcoming cosmic epic to feature any notable guest stars.
“Probably not. I think this is somewhat like, to some degree, Doctor Strange or Black Panther, where we felt like there was enough story that it could be a contained universe at first. We definitely have ideas of how things can cross over later. But this movie, again with 10 characters and Dane Whitman and the Celestials and the Deviants there was enough for us to play with.”
While it’s true that Black Panther and Doctor Strange largely operated as standalone stories, let’s not forget that our first introduction to T’Challa came in Captain America: The Winter Solider, while the future Sorcerer Supreme was name-dropped in The Winter Soldier. They didn’t arrive in live-action as complete unknowns, so Eternals may well tease things that have been, or things to come in the future.