This goes without saying, but MAJOR SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn’t seen Eternals yet.

If you have seen the movie though, then after the film you undoubtedly sat through the credits and witnessed the introduction and set up of several new, key players in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Some of them were obvious, like Dane Whitman’s Black Knight. Some of them were semi-spoiled beforehand thanks to unethical critics, like Harry Styles’ Starfox (thanks again, M*tt). Others were total surprises.

While they were all great, we’re going to dive down into what they could all mean for the future of the MCU.

First and foremost, and in case you missed it, Blade makes his first appearance in the MCU with this film! However, it’s not a physical one. During the second post-credit scene where we see Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman mustering up the courage to wield the legendary Ebony Blade, right before he’s about to pick it up, we hear a voice off-screen asking him, “Are you sure you want to do that Mr. Whitman?”

That voice belongs to no other than Mahershala Ali. As we all know, he’s been tapped to play Blade in a film that’ll begin production next year!

Although we don’t get a legit first look at the character, his voice is more than enough to stoke an equal amount of excitement and curiosity in fans.

How does Blade find Dane, and more importantly WHY? The two aren’t necessarily close associates of one another in the comics, and the only real thing they have in common is the fact that they use similar weapons.

Admittedly, the way he approaches Dane sounds on par with the same way Nick Fury approached Iron Man all those years ago. So could Blade be preparing to assemble an iteration of The Midnight Sons when we first meet him? Now, these are all purely hypothetically questions, but his presence – however simple it is – just speaks to the numerous possibilities that the Eternals poses in an ever-growing universe.

That leads us to the second – well, really first – major cameo(s) the film offers. Harry Styles’ appearance as Eros a.k.a Starfox might not have been something that fans expected, but it reinforces the idea that this world isn’t quite done with Thanos just yet.

Despite a reputation as a hero, being the brother of Thanos, it’s unclear what Eros’ motivation would be for helping Thena, Druig, and Makkari find their fellow Eternals. Could he turn out to be a surprise baddie in the end, like Ikarus? We’ll just have to see.

The funniest cameo of all though, by far, goes to Patton Oswalt, who provides the voice of Pip the Troll in the first post-credit scene, effectively hyping up Eros’ introduction. Oswalt’s “return” to the MCU is a welcome one. After a previous stint on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. it’s nice to see him dive into another small, yet scene-stealing, bit role.

Don’t be fooled by his size though, as the character has quite the cosmic footprint, having been an associate of both Adam Warlock and Silver Surfer. Realistically, his insertion might have been the greatest tease of all. Time can only tell.

You can read our review for the film, here.