While Marvel fans wait for another round of blockbuster releases from the MCU in 2022, the studio's 26th movie, Eternals, is starting to make its rounds throughout the world as it streams on Disney+. Director Chloé Zhao's cosmic epic has already broken Disney+ viewership records upon its arrival as the MCU fandom dissects everything the movie set up for the MCU's present and future.
Although the movie earned more mixed reviews than any of its MCU predecessors, Eternals still managed to bring plenty of excitement and anticipation with the latest round of post-credits scenes after its core plot. The first one introduced viewers to Harry Styles' Starfox as he adds to the Mad Titan Thanos' legacy, while the other expanded on Kit Harington's role as Dane Whitman in his first encounter with the Ebony Blade.
While Harington only had limited screentime in his first MCU adventure, this scene set up an exciting future for him as he begins his journey toward becoming the franchise's Black Knight. In the recently released commentary on Eternals, Zhao and a couple of her coworkers commented on just how that may happen down the road.
Chloe Zhao on Kit Harington's Eternals Post-Credits Scene
In the recently released Eternals Audio Commentary, director Chloé Zhao teased where star Kit Harington is set to go with his Dane Whitman after the movie's second post-credits scene.
Speaking with production visual effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti and additional visual effects supervisor Mårten Larsson, Zhao shared how exciting it was to see Whitman's interaction with the Ebony Blade as he heard Mahershala Ali's MCU introduction as Blade. Specifically, Zhao noted that the scene"sets up so much" for the MCU's future.
The trio also briefly addressed the Ebony Blade itself, emphasizing the need to visualize "the idea of a blood curse" connected to the terrifying weapon.
Here's their full exchange:
Chloé Zhao: "Ebony Blade, who would have thought. I definitely geek out quite a bit, especially when the voice that comes in the end."
Mårten Larsson: "It's just a cool post-credits scene. Simple, but sets up so much."
Chloé Zhao: "Sets up so much... And, I love this effect they use on the sword so much. Did we use... Was it sand magnets?
Stephane Ceretti: "It was magnetic ferrite... I think it's cool."
Chloé Zhao: "Yeah, the idea of a blood curse, how to show that."
Where Does Harington's MCU Future Lie?
Kit Harington only boasted about ten minutes of screen time in the 2-hour-36-minute runtime from Eternals as nearly a dozen co-stars took the spotlight for the time being. However, being as big of a star as he is due to his time in Game of Thrones and other projects, this appears to be just a stepping stone to bigger things as he starts his journey toward being a hero in the MCU.
Harington's Dane Whitman came into possession of the Ebony Blade in the second post-credits scene, a weapon forged by Merlin and imbued with magical powers such as near-immortality and the ability to cut through any object in its way. That magic started to show itself as the magnetic ferrite described in the quotes put the VFX to the big screen, all while the brooding voice of Blade warned Whitman of the dangers involved with the weapon.
It's becoming more of a certainty that Harington's MCU character will take on the Black Knight persona before too long, although there are no signs pointing to when the actor's next appearance will come.
With Blade rumored to be going into production in July and other mystical projects like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Moon Knight releasing soon, there could be an opening for Harington to go full superhero sooner rather than later. No matter when that comes, however, he will be yet another thrilling character to look forward to as the MCU's movies and shows get a little more mystical.
Eternals is now streaming worldwide on Disney+.
