Back in August, Eternals actor Patton Oswalt (Pip the Troll) appeared to let slip that a sequel was in the works with director Chloé Zhao set to return.
"They have announced there's going to be an Eternals sequel, Chloe Zhao is going to direct it. So hopefully there will be more adventures of Starfox and Pip," he told Al Rocker while being interviewed for The Today Show.
Marvel Studios never made any such announcement, so while Oswalt's comments were widely circulated, many believed the Sandman actor must have been misinformed. Now, an update from his Eternals costar Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo) would seem to confirm as much.
“I have no idea. I don’t think Patton was right," Nanjiani explained to The Playlist when asked about the potential sequel. "I think that there was a hoax website – one of those where it’s like one letter off from the real one. They tweeted it, and it spread around and I think that’s what Patton saw. I honestly don’t know anything. I would love for Kingo to come back. I love playing that character…That one’s very fun to play, you’re just in a good mood. You do finger guns, you’re like a movie star – what’s not to love? You’re just in a good mood the entire time.”
MCU sequels are a regular occurrence, of course, but Eternals is the only Marvel Studios movie to drop to "rotten" status on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and the divisive superhero epic finished up its U.S. run with a disappointing $164.9 million, giving it the lowest domestic haul of any MCU-set movie aside from 2008's The Incredible Hulk ($134M).
The movie did perform much better overseas (its global cume passed $400 million mark), but it's generally assumed that a mediocre BO performance and critical reception would influence Disney's decision when it came to potentially fast-tracking a follow-up.
A direct sequel may never materialize, but we are certain to see at least some of the immortal heroes in The MCU again down the line.