Dane Whitman Is Not the First Black Knight, Family Secret Explained

Sersi is pulled away by Arishem before Kit Harrington’s Dane can tell her anything about his mysterious family secret. Fortunately for you, I have all the details about Dane’s new identity, as teased in the Eternals end-credits scene.

By now, we all know that Dane Whitman will be taking on the persona of Black Knight very soon. In the end-credits scene, Dane is seen pacing up and down in a study, worried about opening an ominous box.

Once he does, he finds the Ebony Blade etched with the words “Death is his reward,” and there are creepy whispers all around him.

Dane’s involvement in Eternals is relatively minor, but it is full of emphasis on his familial relationships and history. The first instance is when Sersi gifts him a ring bearing his family crest. The second is when Sersi advises Dane to make amends with his uncle when the Eternals think the end of the world is nigh.

Both mentions are equally important—Dane’s family has quite the legacy, as his ancestor, Sir Percy of Scandia, wielded the Ebony Blade as the first Black Knight in order to serve King Arthur and do his dirty work.

Now before landing into Dane’s hands, the latest owner of the blade was his uncle Nathan Garrett, who had also served as the Black Knight. As per the curse on the Ebony Blade, the more the wielder uses it, the more they are corrupted and long for violence and bloodshed.

Nathan is known to have given in to this temptation and used the blade for evil. This could be a probable reason for Dane and Nathan’s current estrangement.

Dane has quite a dilemma on his hands—when grappling with the Eternals’ revelations, it was obvious he felt quite inexperienced with the superhero stint. Now that his own legacy is so closely tied to a superhero (and a rather dangerous one at that), it is left to see how Dane will process the new information.

In the comic book canon, he learns to wield the blade successfully and, at one point, even leads the Avengers in certain missions.

But as we hear Mahershala Ali’s Blade warn him in the end credits scene, right now, Dane may not yet be ready to control the evil urges of the Ebony Blade. That’s an origin story I’d like to see!

Black Knight is expected to next appear in Blade, which is scheduled for 2022-23.

About Eternals

Eternals is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics of the same name. It is the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Chloé Zhao, who wrote the screenplay with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo.

In the film, the Eternals, an immortal alien race, emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from their ancient counterparts, the Deviants.

It stars an ensemble cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie.