Shortly before the D23 Expo kicked off last week, it was revealed that Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) would be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a future film. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait all that long to find out more as the D23 panel revealed that the film in question was THE ETERNALS and that Harington would be playing the Black Knight.
This shouldn't come as a big surprise, but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke with Good Morning America during D23 where he teased that we can probably expect to see the Black Knight in more than just THE ETERNALS.
[Kit Harington's] a really amazing actor. This part came up in the Eternals film that we're doing. We were so happy that he agreed to join, and it is a part that could perhaps grow into something else in the future.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems as though it will continue truckin' until long after we're all dead (bring on HOWARD THE DUCK 17: THE RETURN OF TONY STARK!), I'd imagine that Kevin Feige is looking at characters who could potentially support their own franchise, and Kit Harington's Black Knight could prove to be just the ticket. Now, just who the hell is the Black Knight? I'll give you a brief overview: There have been several characters who have taken on the mantle of the Black Knight over the years, the first being Sir Percy of Scandia, but the Black Knight we'll be introduced to in THE ETERNALS will be Dane Whitman, who discovered a family connection to the original Black Knight and took up his mystical sword known as the Ebony Blade. As it was forged by Merlin, the sword is immensely powerful and can cut through nearly any substance in existence, magical or otherwise, but it also carries with it a blood curse; the more blood it spills, the more it pushes its owner towards violence.
Production on THE ETERNALS is currently underway under the direction of Chloé Zhao, and the film stars Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Gemma Chan as Sersi, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Barry Keoghan as Druig. THE ETERNALS is set for a November 6, 2020 release.