One of the most annoying things about mega-movies franchises like Star Wars or the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that everyone is so hell-bent on keeping secrets that the people working on them have to lie through their teeth in response to even the most banal questions with the most obvious answers. Enter one Kit Harington.
The former Game of Thrones star is playing Dane Whitman in director Chloé Zhao’s upcoming Eternals movie, a character who comic fans and anyone who keeps tabs on the MCU knows is also the hero known as the Black Knight. While we don’t know if Whitman starts the movie as the Black Knight, or becomes the Black Knight during the movie (very possibly in a post-credits scene!), or will get his own origin story film, we know one thing for certain: Harington is going to star as Black Knight in some future Marvel movie, whether it be a solo film, Eternals 2, Avengers: The Legend of Thanos’ Gold, whatever.
And yet when asked about his MCU future, Harington has to claim total ignorance, telling Total Film: “I’ve got no idea whether my character goes on or not. I had read up on who he could be, or might be. So there’s the possibility for a longer trajectory. And hopefully, I think this is the tip of the iceberg for my character. I hope. But I just don’t know, you know? I’m as in the dark as anyone else. And I try not to live too far ahead in the future with anything. Even when I was in Game of Thrones, even on the sixth season, I presumed the seventh season wasn’t going to happen!”
My dude, I promise you know more about Dane Whitman’s future than just about everyone else because it’s already been mapped out. Marvel Studios plans its movies so far in advance because they all need to tie together to form a cogent story like the Infinity Saga, as well as work with Harington’s filming schedule. Plus, we all know Kevin Feige didn’t hire the dude who played Jon Snow for a bit part in Eternals — he’s an actor you build a franchise around. Besides, if goddamned Morbius the Living Vampire can get a solo film, so can the Black Knight.
At this moment, Marvel has four movies scheduled for 2024, including February 16, May 3, July 26, and November 8. We don’t know what those movies are, but Marvel Studios certainly knows what they are. And Kit Harington sure as hell knows if he’s starring in one of them.
Eternals also stars Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. They almost certainly know, too.