Sprite’s Ending Fixes Her Eternals 2 Return Problem

Sprite’s ending in Marvel’s Eternals movie fixed the problem with her MCU return and actually made it easier for her to play a role in a potential Eternals 2. Played by Lia McHugh, the eternally youthful member of the team, received an opportunity to find out what it’s like to grow up. Thanks to Sersi’s decision to use her Uni-Mind powers to help her friend, Sprite lost her status as an Eternal and will now age naturally as a human.

As a result, the MCU’s Eternals were left with only six heroes, with Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Ikaris (Richard Madden), and Ajak (Salma Hayek) all being casualties of the movie’s story. However, the team gained Starfox (Harry Styles) in one of Eternals’ post-credits scenes, and still has more than enough to work with for a sequel. Based on the film’s cliffhanger ending, Eternals 2 certainly looks like the direction that the MCU is moving in with its characters. That being said, Eternals has been consistently described by Marvel as a standalone project that doesn’t necessarily need a sequel like other Marvel movies. While Marvel has confirmed the Eternals will indeed be back, it hasn’t been made abundantly clear yet how or when that will happen.

If Eternals 2 is in the pipeline for MCU Phase 5, there’s a good chance that it will bring back Sprite. Though the movie’s ending may have suggested that the MCU was done with her character, it may actually be the very reason she can come back. When Eternals was shooting, Sprite actress Lia McHugh was 14 years old. No matter when Eternals 2 would release, McHugh would be considerably older. Even if it somehow released as early as 2024, McHugh would be in her late teens during filming. This would of course be a major problem for a character who’s not supposed to age. If Marvel hadn’t ended her story the way it did, a role for her in Eternals 2 just wouldn’t have worked.

Sprite looking older in a second MCU project is unavoidable on account of her age in Eternals, so making her human was really the most sensible way to set up a return. The cost of this move is that it lessened her link to the team, which will make finding a place for her in Eternals 2 a big challenge. But even though Sprite likely doesn’t have her powers anymore, she has an important relationship with Sersi (Gemma Chan) that could always be revisited later on down the line.

Sprite could even be relevant to other MCU projects. If Marvel makes a solo movie or TV show for Kit Harington’s Black Knight, Spite’s knowledge of ancient history (and the Ebony Blade) as well as her existing connection to Dane could lead her to become a valuable ally to his character in the MCU’s future. Even if that’s not the case, there’s a good chance that Marvel will be able to find something to do with a character who has lived for thousands of years, regardless of whether or not she’s still an immortal with superpowers. All things considered, Eternals’ending didn’t close the door on more stories for her character; it made them possible.

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