Eternals Secretly Set Up The MCU's First Symbiote Before No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed the existence of symbiotes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Venom leaving a part of it in this universe, but Eternals secretly set up the MCU’s first symbiote before No Way Home did. The MCU continues its expansion with its Phase 4, bringing new characters, events, and concepts to this connected universe, and the one at the core of this new era is the multiverse. Thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s now confirmed that the previous versions of the web-slinger and the characters from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe are part of the multiverse, and the post-credits scene brought a piece of the Venom symbiote to the MCU.

Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up minutes after the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, and sees Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asking Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make everyone forget he’s Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the spell doesn’t go as planned and instead the gates of the multiverse are opened, allowing villains from past Spider-Man movies (Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, and Electro), as well as the previous Spider-Men, to cross over to the MCU. However, these weren’t the only characters who paid a visit to the MCU, as Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom did so too in the post-credits scene, with Venom leaving a piece of itself in this universe – but Eternals set up the MCU’s first symbiote before Venom did that.

Eternals not only introduced the title team and the Deviants (their evil counterparts), but also Dane Whitman (Kit Harington), who in the comics becomes Black Knight and wields the Ebony Blade. Eternals didn’t see Whitman become Black Knight but teased it in its post-credits scene, where he opened a box containing the blade and was ready to touch it in order to carry on with his family’s legacy (as his ancestor, Sir Percy of Scandia, was the first Black Knight). The sword reacts in a very peculiar way when Dane almost touches it, just like a symbiote would, meaning that Eternals was the first introduction of symbiotes in the MCU, not the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

In the comics, the Ebony Blade was forged by Merlin and Sir Percy from the Starstone meteorite, and enchanted to cut through any object, prevent its wielder’s death, and deflect any magic, but this came with a price: the blade also carries a curse that slowly corrupts any user, causing a lust for violence, bloodshed, and death. According to Knull, an eldritch god of darkness and creator of the symbiotes, the Ebony Blade is a symbiotic divine weapon with the potential to destroy worlds, and only those impure of heart can wield it, drawing out their negative emotions until they become manic for violence. The Ebony Blade, then, is the first symbiote in the MCU, and its effects on humans are different from those of Venom, so it’s going to be interesting to see how these compare and how the abilities each one grants will be used in the MCU.

For now, it’s unknown what the future of the Venom spawn will be in the MCU, as it’s unclear when it could appear again, but Dane Whitman’s future is a bit clearer. Whitman is now set to become Black Knight and his future as such has now been tied to Blade (Mahershala Ali), so he could return as soon as in the TV show Moon Knight or until Blade’s solo movie, giving the audience a look at how his transformation into Black Knight is going and how the symbiote in the Ebony Blade has affected him so far.

Next: Theory: Blade & Black Knight In Eternals Setup A Dark Avengers Replacement