With Kit joining the MCU, I thought I’d write a few short notes on Black Knight and the greater movie ‘verse for non-nerds. I’m not expert in this character in particular but I have come across him in various comics, so here’s a brief description.
History: typically complicated and will no doubt be radically changed for the films, much like many other MCU movie characters. In short, there have been three Black Knights, one of whom was a bad guy who was the uncle of Dane Whitman, the version Kit will be playing. Although Dane was born in America, his family is British and he’s affiliated with many British superheroes, so I’m guessing that they’ll make him English for the films.
Powers: Nil! Sorry, friends. Not inherently, anyway. Just like Tony Stark, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Wasp and many others, Dane Whitman doesn’t have any sort of superhuman abilities. However, he’s a scientific genius (seems like every second person in the MCU is!), supremely athletic, an incredible swordsman and expert horseman. Those last three sound familiar?
(At various times in his history he has been endowed with special abilities, e.g. as a result of using the magical Ebony Blade, but these didn’t become permanent features.)
Appearance: In the comics, he’s tall and bulky (heh), with brown hair and eyes. Not known for being soulfully beautiful, so there’s an upgrade! Occasionally costumed and caped, but is also seen in skinny jeans and a leather jacket. Ahem.
Affiliations with current MCU movie characters: The obvious one is Sersi of the Eternals, with whom he is in a relationship. He’s also worked with Doctor Strange, who helped him get rid of a curse on his sword. But more importantly, he actually becomes an Avenger. So, while the character is relatively unknown to non comic book geeks, there is a lot of potential for him going forward.
Movie Version: The Black Knight is appearing in the Eternals in what is likely to be a small role. Feige et al. have done this multiple times: a new character is initially introduced to the ‘verse by making a small but significant contribution in one film before going on to formally join an ensemble +/- a solo feature. Examples of such characters and their first appearances include Black Widow (Iron Man 2), Hawkeye (Thor), Black Panther (Captain America, Civil War) and the new Spider-Man (also Captain America, Civil War).
There were even rumours last year* that BK was being considered for his own film, possibly even a trilogy. Now, I wouldn’t get too hopeful about that, because it was probably only one of the many proposals being knocked around over at Marvel. Since he’s so unknown, I suspect they’ll wait to see how the character plays out on screen before making much of a commitment. If he does make another appearance, my guess is that it’ll be in the next Doctor Strange film. Their connection has already been teased in the first movie (and no, I didn’t pick up on this myself! Other more observant nerds did):
That there is a version of Black Knight’s helmet. The Ebony Blade was also supposed to be there (and was made for that purpose), but for some reason didn’t make it into the final cut.
So, there you have it. Don’t expect Kit to play a huge part in the Eternals, but let’s hope we’ll see more of him in future films.
* thanks @elephantandthedove for the heads up on that!
