MCU Already Has The Perfect Character To Train Eternals' Black Knight
Thanks to Hawkeye, the MCU already has the perfect mentor for Eternals’ Black Knight. In Eternals’ second post-credits scene, Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) received the Ebony Blade, thus paving the way for his transformation into the Black Knight from Marvel Comics. However, how he’ll make this leap and when it will happen are questions that remain unanswered.
Black Knight is the greatest swordsman in Marvel Comics, but he has a long way to go before he can develop that reputation in the MCU. In fact, there’s been no evidence that the MCU's Dane Whitman even knows how to properly handle a sword, much less use it in a real fight. For the character, becoming the Black Knight is about much more than just getting the Ebony Blade. Acquiring the sword was only half of the process. Before he can be a superhero in the MCU, he’ll have to undergo some serious training. Dane can’t become a master of swordsmanship overnight, which is why he’ll need a mentor to train him on a long-term basis.
Some may assume from his Eternals cameo that Mahershala Ali’s Blade may get this role, but a much better candidate would actually be Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), who is an MCU adaptation of Swordsman, Hawkeye’s mentor and a villain-turned-Avenger. Before Black Knight burst onto the scene in the late 1960s, Swordsman was widely regarded as Marvel’s best swordfighter. Based on Hawkeye’s presentation of his skills, the MCU’s take on Swordsman shares his comic counterpart’s expertise in the area of swordsmanship, even if he isn’t truly a hero or a villain like the original character. Regardless, he meets the requirements needed to be Black Knight’s teacher.
Of course, using a sword like the Ebony Blade would depend on a skillset that’s inherently different from what Jack demonstrated in the show, but that doesn’t mean Jack isn’t well-suited for this job. It’s true that he was only shown to be a fencing expert in Marvel's Hawkeye show, but his diverse collection of blades and the way he avoided Kate’s questions about what swords he used are signs that he could be knowledgeable in multiple forms of swordsmanship – not just fencing. If so, Dane would stand to learn a great deal from hiring Jack to be his instructor in a future MCU movie or a Disney+ Black Knight show.
Jack being Black Knight’s mentor is an idea that works well for both characters. Jack didn’t get to be a part of Hawkeye’s origin story, but he can still make an impact in the MCU by filling that role for Eternals’ Dane Whitman instead. Going in this direction would give a greater purpose to Jack’s character in Hawkeye, and avoid Dane being trained by Blade. Since Black Knight needs to stand apart from Blade (and not in his shadow), Jack would be the perfect alternative.