Last week, it was revealed at Disney’s D23 Expo that Game of Thrones star Kit Harington (Jon Snow) would be playing the superhero Black Knight in The Eternals, an upcoming tentpole picture in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s right: Kit Harington is playing a Marvel superhero. If being a lead character on the most popular show in the world wasn’t confirmation enough of his success — and to be clear, it was — this should remove any doubt.
The Eternals, about an immortal race of alien beings charged with protecting the Earth, also stars Harington’s former onscreen half-brother/secret cousin Richard Madden, who played Robb Stark on Game of Thrones. How does Madden feel about getting to work with Harington again? “It’s brilliant,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s been about 10 years since we’ve worked together, I think. So we’ve moved on a bit onto different things, so I’m really excited to get back on set.”
Madden, who plays the Eternal Ikaris, made these comments at the D23 Expo, surrounded by his Eternals costars. “He was your brother, right?” asked Don Lee, who plays the Eternal Gilgamesh. “Half-brother!” chimed in Salma Hayek, who plays the Eternal Ajak, the leader of the group. “Fake brother!” Someone’s been watching their Game of Thrones.
Although they both had big presences on Game of Thrones, Madden and Harington had precious few scenes together. There was that memorable scene from the pilot where they were shaving shirtless in preparation for the arrival of King Robert…
…and their touching goodbye in “The Kingsroad,” the second episode of the series:
And that’s about it. Robb would go on to become the King in the North and die brutally at the Red Wedding. Jon would eventually follow in his brother’s footsteps and become the new King in the North, before getting exiled beyond the Wall. So I guess his reign was a scoach more successful?
In a lot of ways, the brothers had parallel journeys, which might be why a Harington-Madden reunion feels like such a big deal despite the fact that they shared very little actual screentime on Thrones. I know I’ll be interested in watching when The Eternals debuts on November 6, 2020.
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