Eternals leak reveals Kit Harington's role isn't what we expected

Marvel's The Eternals has just begun the editing process, but Kumail Nanjiani is already doing interviews about it. He appeared alongside his wife and collaborator Emily V. Gordon on Deadline's New Hollywood podcast, and seemingly gave credibility to a leak about Kit Harington's character, Dane Whitman.

In the podcast, Nanjiani detailed the arduous process of preparing to play Kingo, an Eternal who decides to keep his identity a secret by becoming the world's biggest Bollywood star. The actor says he had to perform an elaborate routine with more than 50 professional dancers. What does this have to do with Harington? That's where Reddit comes in.

Reddit user RubixCubesForCharity heard the podcast and was reminded of a 4chan leak posted by Reddit user Tales_of_the_Trivial back in October. The leak came and went, but it contained several plot details that have since proven to be accurate, like Brian Tyree Henry's character being queer and Kingo's Bollywood connection. So it's worth looking at what this leaker had to say about Harington's character with fresh eyes.

The leak claims Whitman is an archaeologist who discovers the Eternals' true identity through the course of his research. Set photos have already seemingly confirmed the archaeology stuff, so there's some merit to this. The leaker also claims Gemma Chan's character, Sersi, is sent to erase his memories of the Eternals, but instead falls in love. (To be fair, he is Jon Snow.) Over the course of the movie, Sersi will seemingly have to choose between her newfound romance and her fellow Eternals.

The leak also claims Harington's Game of Thrones co-star Richard Madden will play the "mightiest" of the Eternals, Sersi's protective older brother. So we could see some kind of confrontation between Jon Snow and Robb Stark.

In the comics, Whitman is a physicist who is actually the descendant of Sir Percy of Scandia, a knight of the Round Table. He takes up the mantle of his ancestor and becomes Black Knight. He still has a relationship with Sersi, but it's not quite as fleshed-out as other comic romances.

Since Harington was cast, Marvel fans have wondered if The Eternals will see him assume the heroic Black Knight mantle. If this leak continues to be accurate, it seems like he won't, at least not for a large part of the movie.

Now, this doesn't completely elminate the possibility of The Black Knight making an appearance. The reveal could be too secret even for this leak, or could be a post-credits surprise left to be explored in a future film. Regardless of his role, we know Harington has a major role to play here, and there's a wide-open future for him in the MCU.

The Eternals comes to theaters November 6, 2020.