How Eternals Sets Up Marvel’s Horror Slate and the Midnight Sons

After waiting the past two months, Marvel Studios released the latest film on its slate, and it’s a flick that may have been one of the studio’s most important entries yet. Chloe Zhao’s Eternals carried a hefty runtime and with it, enough teases to set up what many would consider a whole handful of new properties. That includes a teaser in one post-credits scene that could go a long way in finally introducing horror into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

We’re going full spoilers for this one, so if you’ve yet to see Eternals or read about the film’s two post-credits scenes, exercise caution if scrolling.

Despite casting an actor like Kit Harington in the role of Dane Whitman, the character is hardly in the movie. By the time the nearly-three-hour flick wrapped, Whitman appeared in just three or so scenes, including a post-credits tease when he finally comes in contact with the fabled Ebony Blade.

The sword itself is referenced in the movie by Lia McHugh’s Sprite, and Sersi (Gemma Chan) references Whitman’s uncle—Nathan Garrett, another character who’s worn the Black Knight mantle—but Whitman himself never becomes Black Knight in the movie.

Then, once Whitman opens the box with the Ebony Blade, a mysterious voice asks him if he’s “sure” he wants to wield it. Zhao herself has since revealed that voice belongs to no other than Mahershala Ali, officially serving as Blade’s introduction to the MCU.

Now, it seems Black Knight will be tied into what Marvel Studios is doing on the horror side of things, potentially even adding Black Knight to the live-action world’s version of the Midnight Sons, Marvel Comics’ preeminent group of horror-based superheroes.

Interestingly enough, Black Knight and Blade do have similarities as they’re both originally British-based vigilantes, and the MCU looks to be taking the “Curse of the Ebony Blade” quite literally, making it spookier than it’s ever been in the source material. With Whitman, Blade (Ali), and Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac) either in the MCU or arriving within the next 18 months, Marvel’s well on its way to establishing the Midnight Sons. By now, it’s just a matter of time.

Eternals is now in theaters while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be available for Disney+ subscribers to stream on November 12th.

What did you think of Eternals? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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