Kit Harington talks Eternals post-credits scene, Dane Whitman’s future

Warning! This story contains SPOILERS for Eternals and its end-credits scene.

With fans around the world finally able to see Marvel’s Eternals on the big screen, we can begin to talk spoilers for the film. If you’ve seen the movie and are wondering what’s next, you’ve come to the right place. Or if you haven’t seen the movie but are still wondering what comes next, you’ve also come to the right place…so long as you don’t mind SPOILERS.

Game of Thrones veteran Kit Harington has a small but important role in the film as Dane Whitman, an ordinary human man who’s dating the Eternal Sersi (Gemma Chan).

That said, Marvel superfans recognized the name of Dane Whitman from the start and surmised that it’s the same comics character who eventually becomes the superhero known as the Black Knight. But because this is Eternals and not a Dane Whitman movie, and we were never quite sure how much of Harington’s character we would be getting in the film.

As it turns out, we got a fair amount of Whitman, but he didn’t come close to reaching his full potential. By the end of the film, he had discovered more about his family lineage that he never got the chance to tell Sersi about. Then, in the post-credits scene for the film, Whitman comes face to face with a family heirloom: the Ebony Blade. But before he’s able to pick up the sword, we hear the voice of Mahershala Ali, who’s playing the vampiric superhero Blade in another upcoming Marvel movie, ask him if he’s ready to do that. Cut to black.

Kit Harington on the Eternals’ post-credit scene

Obviously, there’s a lot to unpack in this scene, from the legend of the sword itself to Blade’s first onscreen offscreen appearance in the MCU. Speaking to SyFy Wire, Kit Harington shared what he thought about that scene, and what he believes is in store for his future in the MCU. “I joined this with the idea that there was something beyond just being the human in this movie,” Harington said, hinting that his character was always going to become more than just an average guy from London.

Harington also revealed that playing a character who’s famous for wielding a sword gave him a bit of pause at first, because he’s been there and done that. However…

"…What turned it for me was his relationship with that sword. I think the best superheroes to play are the ones where their superpower is also the thing that’s damaging them. This thing that’s causing them pain. For him, it’s very clear this sword is a curse. I find that very fascinating."

According to Marvel Comics legend, with each life the Ebony Blade takes, the more mad the wielder grows. Imagine the idea of the Mad Kings and Queens in Game of Thrones, but this time Dane Whitman risks becoming the Mad Knight.

What happens next is anybody’s guess, including Harington. But given the fact that we leave off on this big cliffhanger, we’re likely to see the story of the new Black Knight unfold in Eternals 2, a Disney+ spinoff, or possibly even the new Blade movie.

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