The future of Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was seemingly left without a superhero team on Earth, but that changed with the arrival of Chloé Zhao’s Eternals in the MCU’s Phase 4. The Eternals turned out to be the oldest team in the MCU as well as, quite possibly, its most powerful, but their movie is now also the most divisive MCU movie to date.
The Eternals are a group of synthetic beings created by the Celestial Arishem, who sent them to Earth centuries ago to protect it from the Deviants. After defeating these creatures, the Eternals stayed on Earth, helping humanity evolve and not getting involved in their conflicts, but the team eventually spit up. The Eternals re-teamed many decades later when the Deviants returned and an apocalyptic event called “The Emergence” fast approached, and all this led the surviving Eternals to learn the truth about Arishem’s plans and their real role on Earth. By the end of Eternals, the team was divided into two, with the ones who stayed on Earth being taken away by Arishem and the rest being intercepted in space by Eros/Starfox (Harry Styles), a fellow Eternal who claimed to know where the rest are. However, although this left the door open for the Eternals’ return, only one character must return in the Multiverse Saga, and he's not an Eternal: Dane Whitman (Kit Harington).
What Happened To Dane Whitman In Eternals?
One of Eternals’ biggest issues was the number of characters it introduced, as in addition to the title team, it introduced Arishem, the Deviant Kro (voiced by Bill Skarsgård), and Dane Whitman, among other, less prominent characters. In Eternals, Dane Whitman was introduced as a professor and historian at London’s Natural History Museum and Sersi’s (Gemma Chan) boyfriend. Dane was only seen at the beginning of the movie and at the end, when he reunited with Sersi and was about to reveal an important family secret to her when she, along with Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), was abducted by Arishem. However, Dane was at the front and center of the post-credits scene of Eternals, in which he opened the case containing the Ebony Blade, and as he was about to touch it, a voice later revealed to be Mahershala Ali’s Blade, asked him if he was sure of what he was about to do.
In the comics, Dane Whitman is one of the characters who have taken the mantle of Black Knight. Dane inherited the Ebony Blade from his uncle, but it’s a much more dangerous weapon than it seems, as it carries a curse that slowly corrupts those who use it and causes a lust for violence, bloodshed, and death. The post-credits scene of Eternals confirmed that Dane Whitman is meant to become Black Knight at some point, and contrary to the Eternals, whose stories could be left as they are right now without big consequences, Dane must return to continue his transformation into Black Knight.
When Will Dane Whitman Return To The MCU?
With the future of Eternals 2 unknown, it’s unclear when Sersi and the rest could return to the MCU, but luckily for Dane Whitman, there are a couple of options for him to return. A part of the Multiverse Saga is leaning more into the MCU’s supernatural side, so Dane could show up in Avengers: Secret Wars.
