Harry Styles' future in the MCU in doubt

Harry Styles' future with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is in doubt.

The 29-year-old megastar made a cameo appearance at the end of the 2021 movie Eternals as Eros/Starfox and was set to pocket up to $10 million (S$13.3 million) for reprising the role in a spin-off titled Eros and Pip, but the project has reportedly been shelved amid Disney's plans to scale back the various offshoots of the franchise.

A source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper's No Filter column: "Marvel bosses were openly talking about Harry in a lead role but that talk has cooled.

"The whole business and Marvel franchise is being rethought. The focus is on creating the biggest projects with the biggest revenues.

"Harry's character is a fun and beloved role but it is not realistically the number one choice to get the Marvel franchise bouncing back".

The update comes a few months after Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore teased Harry had a strong future with the franchise because of Eros' "fascinating" character and "really interesting" connection to the villainous Thanos.

During an interview on the Deadline Crew Call podcast, he said: "We certainly didn't cast Harry for a tag. I mean, again – And a character (that) maybe I have too much affection for, 'cause he's had some problematic runs in publishing. But there are more stories to be told with the character.

"He has a really interesting connection with Thanos; they're half-brothers and share the same father. He has an interesting power set.

"He's a complicated character, but a really fun character. And I think... having met Harry Styles, he is as charming as you want him to be. And I think there's no limit to how good that character's going to be once we get to bring him back."

Eternals director Chloe Zhao revealed that she was the driving force behind the decision to give the As It Was hitmaker a role in the MCU.

She said: "Long story short, with that depressing ending, at some point he was going to be one of the Eternals on that ship. 

"And that didn't quite work out. 

"But I had been wanting to bring Eros into the MCU. 

"So I kept mentioning [casting Harry Styles] to Kevin [Feige] at every chance I had in the hallway, because I love the idea of Eros being another Eternal, another Ajak."