Kit Harington Would Love to Return as Black Knight, but Marvel Has No Plan for That
Kit Harington walked away from Eternals with one of the more intriguing teases for a character’s future in the MCU. His Dane Whitman was on the verge of becoming Black Knight, the Ebony Blade had finally entered the picture, and even Blade was involved.
Five years later, Marvel still hasn’t done anything with it, and Harington doesn’t sound particularly confident that it ever will.
Harington played Dane Whitman in the 2021 Marvel film, which gradually revealed that the seemingly ordinary character had a much stranger family history.
The big payoff came during the post-credits scene, when Dane opened a box containing the Ebony Blade, the cursed weapon wielded by Black Knight in Marvel Comics.
Before he could pick it up, the voice of Mahershala Ali as Blade asked him if he was "ready." At the time, it certainly looked like Marvel was preparing to bring Harington back and transform Dane into Black Knight, potentially connecting him to Blade in the process. Unfortunately, neither part of that tease has gone anywhere.
When MovieWeb recently asked Harington if there was more about Dane Whitman that he'd like to explore, the actor made it clear that he'd happily return. He also admitted he isn't aware of Marvel having any plans for the character.
"I mean I'd love to. I don't think there's any plan to, I hate to break it to you, but I think he's a wicked character. There's a part of him that, that whole Ebony Blade stuff where the more he kills, the more he gets, the more addicted.
“I think he's such a great parable of addiction. I think he's someone who starts good, goes bad, and I think it's great. But we'll see; I don't know if there's any plan."
That’s what makes Black Knight such an interesting character. The Ebony Blade comes with a nasty curse, and its influence gives Marvel plenty of room to take Dane into much darker territory as he becomes increasingly consumed by the weapon.
Harington clearly sees the potential there. Whether Marvel Studios agrees enough to actually bring him back is another matter.
Black Knight isn’t the only Eternals thread still hanging around. Harry Styles made his MCU debut in another post-credits scene as Eros, also known as Starfox, the brother of Thanos. Styles hasn’t appeared in the MCU since.
The Eternals themselves haven’t returned either, and Kevin Feige has confirmed that Marvel currently has no plans for an Eternals sequel.
Ali’s Blade has had its own much-publicized problems. The Marvel Studios reboot has gone through years of development issues and was ultimately removed from Marvel’s release schedule, making the connection teased between Blade and Dane Whitman even less likely to pay off.
Marvel’s immediate attention is now focused elsewhere, including Avengers: Doomsday and the eventual introduction of a new generation of X-Men into the MCU. With so many characters and stories competing for space, Black Knight appears to have slipped pretty far down the priority list.
It’s a shame because Harington’s idea of exploring Dane through the addictive nature of the Ebony Blade could make for a cool supernatural Marvel story.
Harington won’t exactly be sitting around waiting for Kevin Feige to call. The actor is joining the second season of HBO’s Harry Potter series as Gilderoy Lockhart, taking over the role from Nicholas Hoult. Harington has some previous experience with the character as well, having played Lockhart in the Audible audiobook recordings.
Maybe Dane Whitman and the Ebony Blade eventually find their way back into the MCU. Harington certainly seems game. For now, though, Black Knight remains another Marvel character whose big introduction ended with a promise that still hasn’t been fulfilled.