Why Harry Styles' Eros was bumped from main story to the post-credits in 'Eternals'

The inclusion of Harry Styles' Eros in the mid-credits sequence of Eternals (now playing on the big screen) almost became a central fixture of the film. Speaking with The Direct, screenwriter Ryan Firpo — who co-wrote the first several drafts of the movie's script alongside his cousin, Kaz Firpo — admitted that they seriously considered making Eros, an Eternal in his own right and Thanos' better-looking brother, one of the main characters in the narrative.

"You know, when we first started doing our pitch, we basically just had all these cards of, let's say about 40 different Eternals, and we started kinda picking out the ones that we liked," Ryan said. "And [Eros] is definitely a card that went up on the board to be in the main movie."

In the end, however, the cousins decided to anchor the story in the romantic relationship shared by Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Ikaris (Richard Madden). As such, there couldn't be two incredibly handsome/alpha male Eternals in the mix. "We just thought in the broader group dynamics, if there’s Ikaris, there can’t really be Eros too, because it feels like they’re just kinda stepping on each other’s toes," Ryan continued.

Nevertheless, the writers never gave up on Eros, simply shifting him to the end credits alongside Pip the Troll (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt). “We knew he was a great character who could potentially be our portal into the bigger world; bigger community of Eternals that lives out in the cosmos," Ryan concluded. "So eventually, we realized that he’s the perfect coda character to introduce, especially because he has that connection to Thanos as well. So I would say that he was never involved in the main story, but always from very early on, there was the idea of introducing him in the post-credits."

Recently chatting with SYFY WIRE, Kaz alluded to the fact that Eros had always been on their minds. "That was somebody from the beginning we knew would be a lot of fun and we knew he would just light a little firecracker and send us off in some new door," he explained. "He would open a big door that I think some people would want to step through."

Given the character's infinite charms, Kaz described Eros as a cosmic "rock star" who brings to mind the late David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust. "I think it had to be Harry and I think that was a brilliant piece of casting," he said. "Plus, I just think he's been having a really interesting career — from Dunkirk onwards ... And I can just tell you, he's gonna have the most fun going off into space in the next one."

Eternals is currently playing in theaters everywhere. Marvel Studios has yet to green-light a sequel.