While the fate of Richard Madden's Ikaris suggested he wouldn't be featured in an Eternals sequel, a new video possibly hints at the character's return.
During the Eternals' finale, a guilt-ridden Ikaris ultimately decides to fly into the sun after his loyalties to the Celestials and their plans to destroy Earth in order for the Emergence to occur forced him to kill Ajak (Salma Hayek) and betray the rest of the Eternals. Despite his apparent death, fans speculated that the character could somehow return for a sequel considering his gifted powers and how he is built like Superman.
Now, a TikTok post by Emmy Kennard (via My Cosmic Circus) may have just hinted that Ikaris is not completely gone yet. The video (which has now been taken down) shows Emmy Kennard's stunt double brother, Joe Kennard, preparing to suit up and play a returning Marvel character. Joe Kennard, who worked with Madden in the past on other non-MCU related projects, served as Madden's stunt double for Ikaris on Eternals, the only MCU character he has been a stunt double for thus far. While Joe Kennard could be a stunt double for a different MCU hero now, many fans now believe that Madden could very likely be featured in the Eternals sequel.
While this is far from confirmation, especially after Eternals co-writer Kaz Firpo confirmed that Ikaris will not be returning for future sequels, nothing can be ruled out in such an expansive cinematic universe filled with countless characters and storylines. Another small hint that Ikaris could return is that his death was not explicitly shown on screen, something the writers could potentially build on to somehow weave the character back into future stories. Of course, there's also a possibility of seeing Ikaris return in a non-Eternals MCU project.
If Ikaris ends up not returning, though, the character will surely be missed. While Ikaris' ultimately failed to stop the other Eternals from preventing the emergence, his beliefs and ideals were hinted at during the whole film, as he told Ajak where stands and why he continues to serve the celestials. This duality created a very engaging character due to Ikaris believing he is doing the right thing. But knowing of Chloé Zhao's skills as a director and knack for writing three-dimensional characters, she will most definitely find a way to include more engaging characters like Ikaris for fans to latch on to in any future sequels.
In terms plot details for a sequel, fans can expect Kit Harington's Dane Whitman to play a much larger role, as it is hinted in Eternals' post-credits scene that he will take up the Ebony Blade and become the Black Knight in order to rescue Sersi and a few other Eternals from the celestial Arishem. For now, though, fans will just have to make their way to Disney Plus to experience the first film all over again.
Eternals is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: My Cosmic Circus