WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Marvel Studios' Eternals, now in theaters.
Marvel Studios' Eternals is a wholly expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe film that recontextualizes the cosmic universe within the franchise. And with the appearance of the Eternals also comes the Celestials and millions of years of history that give way to new characters and even more adventures. One of the biggest surprises was the appearance of Harry Styles as Eros, aka Starfox. The cosmic Eternal and adventurer is introduced as the brother of Thanos and defeater of Black Roger. But the identity and origins of Black Roger have yet to be properly answered.
Starfox is a unique character in the Marvel universe, as he is not only an adventurer and brother of Thanos but also an Eternal with the ability to connect with an individual's please centers and bridge emotions between two people. However, he often finds himself at many parties, occasionally leading to danger because of his carefree personality. One example of such an event comes in Marvel Comics Presents #65 by Howard Mackie and Mark Texeira. In the side story, "Wang Dang Doodle," Eros finds himself face to face with Dark Roger, who may be the Black Roger mentioned in the MCU.
Readers learn that Dark Roger is the monarch of a planet known only as Mystery Planet. For centuries, none have ever been able to discover the planet's location, but Dark Roger eventually decides it's time to emerge from the veil of mystery to win the heart of a woman named Heater Delight. He confronts his would-be bride with Eros caught in the middle by teleporting a club to his planet. The story perfectly fits Eros as a character because he never readily looks for combat, and if he does find it, he's likely in the middle of a party.
Dark Roger has a unique design as he looks like a mixture of Iron Man and the villain Stilt-Man. Clad in all grey, he and his people wear bulky suits and helmets with massive antennae coming out of the sides. Not much is known about the character's capabilities, but from his appearance against Starfox, he appears to have command over a massive army and weapons. The issue also reveals that there are no lengths too great for him to get what he desires. However, because he has been away from the galaxy for so long, he and his army were no match for Eros.
Starfox's feats against Black Roger make it sound like he partook in a swashbuckling battle against a space pirate in the film. But the short story "Comedy of Eros" in Avengers Spotlight #21 by Howard Mackie and Al Milgrom reveals Black Roger is only another alias of Dark Roger. When compared with his namedrop in the MCU, it paints a very different picture of Eros and his escapades.
If the comics serve as a template for the character's journeys in the MCU, Eros seems like a cavalier and suave hero of the galaxy. But if his defeat of Black Roger is like that of the comics, he could be embellishing his stories for more recognition in the universe. As a result, his desire to seem cooler than he is could lead the Eternals down a dangerous path to save their friends from Arishem. Nevertheless, while Black Roger is undoubtedly a mention to Dark Roger, the embellishment of his defeat could change Eros' characterization in future appearances.
To witness Black Roger's namedrop, Eternals is now in theaters.