Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel Studios is no stranger to killing off their characters.
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The list of dead Marvel characters from The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios-led Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a fairly extensive one. Among them, are several iconic figures and powerful Marvel movie superheroes in their own right, such as Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Vision (Paul Bettany), Gamora (Zoe Saldana, though an alternate version from a different timeline is alive).
If you can believe it — there’s more. The poignant deaths of Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Heimdall (Idris Elba), the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), King T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), join this long list — and in 2021’s Eternals directed by Chloé Zhao, the immortal Ikaris played by Richard Madden.
Even Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) effectively “died” in the MCU following Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Now, it appears as if the character Ikaris, one of the key figures who shaped the course of humanity in the MCU according to the film, will reportedly return to Kevin Feige’s Marvel universe following his dramatic death — or more accurately, suicide.
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The Resurrection of a Marvel Hero?
Led by director Chloé Zhao, the Marvel Comics-inspired movie delves into the adventures of the Eternals, a group of godlike aliens engineered by Celestials to guide host planets towards the growth, development, and (spoiler alert) birth of more Celestials.
The Marvel film Eternals featured a rather star-studded cast starring Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Salma Hayek as Ajak, and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman (soon-to-be Marvel’s Black Knight and wielder of the Ebony Blade). Former One Direction boyband member Harry Styles also joined the ensemble as another member of the Eternals, Eros, alongside Patton Oswalt’s Pip the Troll in a tease for an Eternals follow-up (which might be scrapped right now for the current MCU timeline).
A recent report from a known, anonymous Hollywood and Marvel insider source, My Time To Shine Hello, claims that Madden’s Ikaris will return to the MCU movie world.
In fact, it appears as if Marvel has not even killed the character off, with the insider reporting that Ikaris still “lives” — and will return to screens “sooner than you think”:
He lives! (and will be back sooner than you think)
He lives! (and will be back sooner than you think) https://t.co/XAcqEIaoKU
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) April 5, 2024
With this news, fans of the Eternals film are coming forward with excitement — while other Marvel fans are less enthused about the news of this MXU film hero being brought back from the dead.
@worldofHailee: Thank goodness, Ikaris was actually one of the better characters of this movie and should have been the main protagonist instead of Sersi
Thank goodness, Ikaris was actually one of the better characters of this movie and should have been the main protagonist instead of Sersi
— Hailee Steinfeld’s fiance (@worldofHailee) April 5, 2024
@kx4002: Yes I love ikaris, I do hope we will see Angelina Jolie back also
Yes I love ikaris, I do hope we will see Angelina Jolie back also
— xevilio (@kx4002) April 5, 2024
Others meanwhile like @mareatsworld saw Madden’s Ikaris as the “least interesting” of the Eternals bunch — and hence not particularly worth bringing back:
he was the least interesting one at least bring back barry or angelina
— shamar (@mareatsworld) April 5, 2024
Do you think Ikaris should be “resurrected” in the MCU? Did you enjoy the Eternals? Share your thoughts in the comments below!