A large chunk of Marvel’s Phase Four was dedicated to setting up possible threads on which the studio could pull. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ended with a mysterious signal being sent out… by whom? We had no idea. As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness drew to a close, the Sorcerer Supreme was summoned to the Dark Dimension by Clea (played by Charlize Theron). We don’t know when we are going to see them again. And Eternals, released in 2021, dropped two mid-credits scenes that teased out the development of key characters. Only, one of them seems to be going nowhere (and I fear the others will follow suit).
Let’s talk about the scene involving Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman, a character introduced in Eternals who – in the comics – would go on to become the Black Knight. His fate was somewhat teased in an end-credits sequence that found him discovering the Ebony Blade. The scene played out like so:
There were even rumors that the person who whispered to Dane off screen was Blade… though, we have no development on that movie at the moment, either. Which brings us back to Game of Thrones icon Kit Harington, who recently told ScreenRant that there are no plans for The Black Knight to appear in the MCU, meaning the Eternals mid-credits scene is a narrative dead end for the time being. Harington said:
I hope that they do something with that character. I think that character is fascinating and brilliant. And I love his trajectory in the comics. I love the idea of a good guy being turned bad by his superpower. I think that's brilliant. I'm not sure whether we've had a protagonist that's like that, so I think it's a really strong idea. I'd love them to [revisit him]. I don't know, though. The honest answer is nothing's in the works at the moment. If they decide to use the character in something, or as a solo thing, I'd be very excited by it. But I don't think it's planned at the moment.
One problem facing the MCU through Phases 4 and 5 is that they planned too much, and then had to step back and see what was worth pursuing. There’s still a tremendous emphasis on the Multiverse in current MCU storytelling. But what of Riri Williams (introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), or the power of Gi’ah (Emilia Clarke) that was rolled out in Secret Invasion? Even staying in the Eternals ballpark, are we ever going to see Harry Styles on screen as Eros? Based on what Kit Harington says, my guess is no.
Kit Harington will next appear in Blood For Dust, in theaters and on digital beginning April 19. Meanwhile, these are the upcoming Marvel movies that we can confirm. There are a lot of eggs in the basket of Deadpool & Wolverine at the moment. And the launch of the MCU’s The Fantastic Four will be highly scrutinized. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess, with a ton of potential directions, but also a ton of decisions that Kevin Feige and his team need to make.
