Kit Harington Delivers a Reality Check on Black Knight’s MCU Future

Marvel fans have spent years holding onto hope that Kit Harington’s brief but tantalizing turn in ‘Eternals‘ would eventually blossom into a full-fledged superhero arc. The actor’s five minutes of screen time as Dane Whitman, capped by that now-legendary post-credits tease, was enough to convince plenty of viewers that Black Knight was coming for the MCU in a big way.

That excitement has only grown more complicated with time. ‘Eternals’ divided critics and underperformed at the box office when it hit theaters back in 2021, and in the years since, Marvel has quietly shelved nearly every dangling plot thread the film left behind, including Dane’s transformation into the sword-wielding hero.

Now Harington himself is addressing where things actually stand, and the update isn’t exactly the one fans were hoping for. Asked directly about his MCU future in a recent conversation with MovieWeb, the actor didn’t rule out a return, but he was blunt about the current reality. “I mean, I’d love to. I don’t think there’s any plan to,” he said when asked whether he’d reprise the role.

That’s a familiar refrain for anyone who has followed Harington’s comments on Black Knight over the years. The actor has repeatedly expressed genuine enthusiasm for the character while acknowledging that Marvel Studios hasn’t handed him anything concrete to work with.

What makes the update sting a little more this time is how much Harington clearly still wants the role. He went on to explain exactly what draws him to Dane Whitman’s arc, describing the character’s descent as he wields the cursed Ebony Blade. “I hate to break it to you, but I think he’s a wicked character,” he continued. “There’s a part of him, that whole Ebony Blade stuff, where the more he kills, the worse he gets, the more addicted. I think he’s such a great parable of addiction. And I think he’s someone who starts good, goes bad. I think he’s great. But we’ll see. I don’t know if there’s any plan.”

For those unfamiliar with the comics, the Ebony Blade is no ordinary weapon. In Marvel lore, the sword corrupts whoever wields it, slowly turning its bearer into a more bloodthirsty version of themselves the more they use it. It’s exactly the kind of morally messy material that could set Dane Whitman apart from the usual cape-and-mask heroes populating the MCU, which is likely why Harington keeps circling back to it in interviews.

The ‘Eternals’ post-credits scene teased this trajectory clearly. Dane is shown opening a box containing the Ebony Blade while an unidentified voice, later confirmed to belong to Mahershala Ali’s Blade, asks if he’s ready to take it up. It seemed to set the stage for a crossover appearance, but that connection never materialized, and Blade’s own film has gone through years of behind-the-scenes upheaval.

Fans reacted to Harington’s latest comments with a mix of frustration and lingering hope across social media, with many expressing disappointment that Marvel has let the character sit dormant for so long. Others pointed out that the multiverse era of the MCU has a track record of reviving characters once thought forgotten, leaving the door open for Black Knight to eventually get his moment.

For now, though, the ball remains firmly in Marvel Studios’ court. Harington has made clear he’s willing and eager to return, but until the studio commits to a project, Dane Whitman’s transformation into Black Knight remains exactly where it’s been since 2021: teased, but nowhere close to confirmed.

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