MCU movies are known for combining comic book craziness with a down-to-earth feel, and that’s something well-exemplified in one scene from the studio’s latest movie, Eternals. As seen in the trailers, Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) learns the truth about his girlfriend Sersi (Gemma Chan) when she explains to him in front of a laundromat that she’s an immortal being tasked with protecting humans from the Deviants.
In a chat with BBC Radio 1’s Ali Plumb, Harington and Chan opened up about how filming this scene was a bit of a challenge due to the various alien names the pair had to reference. For one thing, the Game of Thrones star admits that he just couldn’t pronounce “Thanos” the right way on the night that filming took place, resulting in much hilarity for him and Chan. Harington even admitted to calling him “Thanus” in at least one take:
In the sequence in question, Dane is questioning Sersi about why her people didn’t help the Avengers stop Thanos during the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. She explains that, though the Eternals have been tasked with protecting Earth for centuries, they’re only supposed to interfere when the Deviants attack. There’s been some criticism of this excuse, though, as Thanos himself is a mutated Eternal. This is something confirmed in the film’s post-credits scene⏤spoiler alert!⏤which introduces Harry Styles as Eros, Thanos’ brother.
As for Dane himself, his future in the MCU is set up in the movie’s second credits scene, which sees him wield the Ebony Blade for the first time. Though his superhero alter ego isn’t namechecked in Eternals, the appearance of this family heirloom confirms that he’s about to take on the mantle of Black Knight, just like his ancestors before him, in subsequent Marvel projects. Harington’s likely got a lot of complicated comic book-y dialogue ahead of him.
Eternals is playing in theaters now.
