Thanks to Matt Reeves' The Batman and multiple Dark Knights appearing in The Flash, Gotham's Caped Crusader received most of the attention at 2021's DC FanDome. Surprisingly, the Man of Steel is also receiving some attention, but not where fans might expect.
In a recent promo for Marvel's upcoming film Eternals, Ikaris played by Richard Madden is mistakenly identified by Phastos' son Jack as a superhero he's seen on TV with similar abilities to Ikaris himself.
This footage led to some fun speculation that Eternals had confirmed the existence of DC's Superman within the MCU; and now, just ahead of Eternals' premiere, a new featurette has revealed even more of that rather meta scene.
Superman Lives in the MCU?
Some fans believed that the hero Jack saw with a cape and shooting beams from his eyes had to be Vision. Although, while Vision had a cape, he looks nothing like Clark Kent or Ikaris. Plus, he didn't shoot beams from his eyes but rather from the Mind Stone in his forehead.
There was also the fact that Marvel intentionally highlighted this exchange between Jack and Ikaris for a reason.
Now that more of this scene has been revealed in the new Eternals featurette, Marvel fans now know that Jack was, in fact, referencing DC's own Superman.
In a section of the video highlighting Richard Madden's character of Ikaris, Jack now says, "Dad, that's Superman with the cape and he was shooting laser beams out of your eyes."
Ikaris confirms it wasn't him by saying, "I don't wear a cape."
The clip from the featurette can be watched below:
Superman as a character exists in the MCU and I'm just assuming it's Zack Snyder's Superman and the snyderverse is alive and well in this universe #Eternals pic.twitter.com/aFxrqBKk7s
Truth, Justice, and the Marvel Way?
Of course, this moment between Jack and Ikaris is for fun and Marvel's way of winking at the audience. The MCU has never been short on pop culture references, whether it's Iron Man's nicknames for everyone he meets, to Spider-Man's movie references, to the various nods to Star Wars in Marvel's What If...? Disney+ series.
Still, even if it's only a joke between the studio and its fans, the fact remains that it does confirm the existence of the DCU within the MCU; and interestingly enough, Superman and Eternals are similar in that they are all aliens with super abilities.
While an actual DC and Marvel crossover is unlikely, both franchises are exploring their respective multiverses and a crossover has already happened in the comics beginning with 1976's "Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man."
Even though Marvel fans shouldn't expect Henry Cavill to appear on-screen alongside Marvel heroes anytime soon, these kinds of connections do establish a precedent and could lay the foundation for an epic, franchise crossover down the road.
In the meantime, the real question is which Superman film did Phastos show his son and which one constitutes as good parenting?
Eternals will debut in theaters on November 5, 2021.
