Huge spoilers for Marvel Studios' Eternals follow. You have been warned.
Eternals, the 26th MCU movie, has finally arrived in theaters – and yes, there are a couple of post-credits scenes to stick around for.
There's one in particular, however, that has whipped fans into a frenzy. It concerns Kit Harington's Dane Whitman and it teases the possibility of an unlikely team-up between two interesting superheroes.
We're about to dive into massive spoilers for Eternals from this point on. Unless you've seen the film, don't scroll past the image below. Otherwise, the surprise will be ruined for you.
Still with us? Then you'll know that Eternals' second post-credits scene focuses on Dane Whitman, who has a secret identity: he's the Black Knight, a Marvel superhero with an illustrious comic book history.
That isn't a secret in itself, as Harington has discussed Dane's comic history as the Black Knight in multiple interviews. What's far more interesting, though, is the identity of the mysterious character who speaks to Dane from off-screen.
If you've seen Eternals, you'll know that Dane is ready to use the Black Knight's iconic sword – aka the Ebony Blade – in an effort to rescue Sersi. She was whisked away by Arishem the Judge at the end of the movie for betraying the Celestials and stopping the birth of Tiamut.
But we digress. As Dane is about to hold the sword aloft, a voice from off-screen asks him: "Are you sure you're ready for that, Mr. Whitman?", which makes Dane spin around to see who's speaking to him. The screen cuts to black shortly after, so the person's identity isn't revealed.
Now, though, we know who the mystery character is: it's none other than vampiric superhero Blade, who will be portrayed by Mahershala Ali in the character's upcoming MCU movie.
How do we know this? Eternals director Chloe Zhao confirmed as much. Speaking to Fandom, Zhao was asked if Blade was the individual in question, and she replied: “That was the voice of one of my favorite superheroes, Mr. Blade himself. Blade, Blade, Blade, yeah!”
So there you have it: Eternals marks Blade's MCU debut, even if we don't see him appear on the screen.
Analysis: will the Black Knight appear in Blade's MCU movie?
That's unclear right now, but it's a possibility. After all, Blade and the Black Knight do have a history of fighting alongside each other in Marvel comics. The duo have been part of the Avengers and a British secret intelligence supergroup called MI:13.
Given that Blade is, well, a master swordsman, he'd be the perfect mentor for Dane Whitman, too. While Dane is an expert fighter with the Ebony Blade in the comics, his MCU counterpart appears to be very inexperienced when it comes to close quarters combat.
So Blade might take Dane under his wing in his solo MCU outing. Alternatively, if a Black Knight Disney Plus series or solo movie is announced in the future, Blade might be a supporting character in it.
It may be a while before we find out about a potential Blade and Black Knight team-up anyway. Blade's MCU flick doesn't have a release date at the moment and, despite reports to the contrary, principal photography hasn't even begun on the film.
Right now, the only things we know about Blade's solo adventure are that it'll star Ali as the titular character, it'll be directed by Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq and its script is being written by Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, Hunters). Let's hope that it isn't too long before we find out if Blade and Dane will team up.
Want more information on Eternals' ending and post-credits scenes? Check out our explainer article. Alternatively, read up on every Marvel Phase 4 project that's in development. Or find out everything you need to know about Spider-Man: No Way Home, which arrives in theaters on December 17.
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