Kit Harington won’t pretend he took role in Marvel’s Eternals because it was “different and interesting”

Kit Harington joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dane Whitman in Eternals. While it certainly wasn’t the biggest role in the movie, the character was set up to become the Black Knight in a future MCU appearance. Harington was featured in the movie’s post-credit scene with Whitman opening a chest containing the Ebony Blade, but before he could touch it, he was interrupted by an unseen Blade (Mahershala Ali).

With the Eternals sequel supposedly shelved, it remains to be seen when (or if) we’ll see Dane Whitman again, but Harington did mention his time in the MCU while speaking with GQ. “I’m not gonna pretend I took that [role] because it was different and interesting,” Harington said. “If Marvel calls, you gotta do it.” There have been many actors who took on small Marvel roles with the promise that the character would grow into something bigger, but that hasn’t happened for Harington yet. The actor did add that he liked his character and would be interested in returning to the franchise down the road.

Given Whitman’s appearance alongside Blade in the post-credit scene, some assumed that Harington would be joining Mahershala Ali in the as-yet-unmade Blade movie, but he explained last year that it was never in the cards. “I was never…I think there was some misunderstanding about whether he was going to be in the Blade movie,” Harington said. “He was never meant to be in the Blade movie.”

In the same interview, Harington also reflected on the divisive final season of Game of Thrones, which he admits was rushed and that mistakes were made. The actor was once slated to reprise his role as Jon Snow in a spin-off series, but he revealed earlier this year that the project had been shelved for the time being. “Currently, it’s off the table, because we all couldn’t find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough,” Harington said. “So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It’s firmly on the shelf.“

Time will tell if Kit Harington will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or Game of Thrones), but in the meantime, the actor can currently be seen in the third season of HBO’s Industry, which recently premiered.