Marvel Studios recent ensemble outing Eternals ended with quite the bang. Not only did it tease the future of Dane Whitman as the Black Knight, with the Kit Harington portrayed character unveiling the legendary Ebony Blade; but it also gave fans the first-ever (offscreen and voice only) appearance of Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks aka Blade.
The “appearance” of that character was pretty surprising and felt like out of left field, but the grand scheme of Kevin Feige seems to be setting a plan in place for the character. Blade’s one line in the end credit scene does a lot of heavy lifting. He somehow lays the groundwork for a rich background in only a few words.
“Are you sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”
Blade in Eternals (2021)
The implication is not only is Blade familiar with the complexity and weight that come with the Ebony Blade, but that he also knows of the Whitman bloodline and the birthright that Dane has to that sword. These are two characters that sit very comfortably in an odd and spooky corner of the Marvel Universe, and it’s a corner that’s shared with an upcoming white-clad lunar lad.
Leaving Black Knight and Blade in London with some sort of potential mission or some mystery goal is interesting. But considering the Disney Plus Day footage released for Moon Knight, it becomes even more interesting.
Moon Knight is a character that one could consider global with an origin that takes place in Sudan and some stories leaving the NYC setting with ease. But it’s been really making me scratch my head at the fact that the footage released for the show thus far seems to have brought the character to (some vague city in) Europe in exchange for NYC.
The change of setting could just be that Feige and co. thought NYC was becoming oversaturated; after all, we did just wrap up the NYC set Hawkeye series. But I think there might be more to it. There’s no easier and more convincing way to bring characters together in a story than to just geographically sit them right next to each other.
The footage of the series gave us a look at Oscar Isaac in what looks like his Mr. Knight outfit looking at his reflection on the side of a red double-decker bus. Pairing that with the fact that one of Marc’s personalities seems to have taken on a British accent and cars seem to drive on the left side of the road, I’d be willing to bet Moon Knight takes place in London (or at the very least, England).
Considering all of that AND the fact that Werewolf By Night has been rumored to make some sort of appearance in Moon Knight before his own short film next year, it’s hard to imagine a version of Moon Knight that doesn’t include some sort of proto-Midnight Sons team.
Besides the fact that all of these characters have taken a spot in the Midnight Sons comic team at one time or another (besides Dane Whitman, who’s being dragged along by Blade), these characters all inhabit a certain corner of the universe that is obviously being addressed by Kevin Feige and the creative teams on these projects.
Not only are both Moon Knight and Werewolf By Night expected this year, but Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is including the Darkhold, and a Blade film is on the near horizon and currently expected to film in 2022. If Blade doesn’t pop up here, people are going to start wondering “when?”
That Eternals post-credits scene was clearly a tease for something. Ali was cast as the character two whole years before a director was even attached. If Eternals hit theaters on its original date (Nov 2020), the character would’ve appeared 9 whole months before a director was ever hired (July 2021). There has to be a plan in motion for the hugely popular character Blade aside from his eventual solo film or films.
As for whether Blade or Dane show up in Moon Knight, I guess we’ll have to wait and see when the Disney+ series drops later this year.
Where do you think that Blade or Dane Whitman the Black Knight, might show up next? Are you excited about a potential Midnight Sons project with them? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @mycosmiccircus!
