Whitman finds himself embroiled in a conflict with the evil mutant Apocalypse alongside his ancestor's best friend Bennet du Paris, the mutant who would later become Exodus. [6] The ongoing series was cancelled with issue #5 in 2016, as Marvel was unhappy with its sales. [16] Later, the Ebony Blade is used by the Olympian war god Ares to put out the Promethean Flame and turn most of the Olympians to crystal. It is not clear whether he has access to his Avalonian equipment at present.

Black Knight is notable as the first "All-New, All-Different Marvel" comic book series to be cancelled.[2]. Since Whitman is not a full Avenger at the time, Kang has no power over him and so Whitman is able to defeat him with relative ease. [volume&issueneeded] As part of his new role as the Pendragon, Whitman has gained minor mystical abilities, such as the ability to see through mystical illusions by looking "past the mundane". Related: Eternals Producer Teases Black Knight's Blade Connection.

Whitman decides to leave with her, partly because he does not want to come between Crystal and her husband Quicksilver and partly because he feels responsible for what happened to Sersi. Sir Percy of Scandia was the first iteration of the Black Knight while Marvel Comics was operating under the Atlas Comics branding. The Black Knight is not consistently a hero nor are they consistently a villain; they bend at the will of the Ebony Blade and its demands. Proctor is a villainous alternate version of the Black Knight who first appears in The Avengers #344 (Feb. [23] On the road, they are attacked by the Iron Ogre, a magic creature invoked by the Evil Walker Cormac. [44] Her fellow Eternals, led by Ikaris, pay a visit to the Avengers and tell them that Sersi was affected by the Mahd W'yry, an incurable disease. Whitman has also employed an atomic steed, typically used by the High Evolutionary's Knights of Wundagore, in place of a winged horse at one time. There have also been the beginnings of the Midnight Sons scattered throughout recent Marvel Studios productions. This was followed by the one-shot Black Knight: Exodus #1 (Dec. 1996), by writer Ben Raab and penciller Jimmy Cheung. He has opened up a museum in England chronicling the Black Knights that have existed throughout history. There was also a bit of an homage in there to a DC hero I'd liked in the 1940s, Shining Knight. In this time he develops a weapon that projects a sword-like sheath of energy as a replacement of his Ebony Blade. [43] The relationship between The Black knight and Sersi soon comes under strain, as Sersi proves increasingly unstable and more aggressive, so when the Avengers travel to the planet Polemachus and the tyrant Anskar killed an innocent girl, Sersi killed him immediately. Black Knight wasn't originally included in the Midnight Sons team that was first in the comics, but the MCU's more recent, supernatural angle would allow this fantasy-inspired character to slip into its lineup with ease. At the end, he begins a relationship with Faiza Hussain. [62] The Black Knight leaves Heroes for Hire to assist the Knights of Wundagore along with Quicksilver and later returns to the Avengers when they expand their roster to include satellite teams around the world. Whitman has a panic attack while the two are having lunch due to the trauma of dying and resurrecting. In his youth, he studied physics. [11] He later infiltrates the Masters of Evil, proving his worth to the Avengers who offer him provisional membership. However, she was still being controlled by the Ego gem and captured him and Ultraforce for Loki. Despite his assurance that he is fine, his home is seen covered in slash marks, with Whitman himself curled up on the floor in a mentally unhinged state. Whitman is best known as the modern-day Black Knight, continuing a legacy that began in medieval England. [91] He leads a team called the "Gatherers", whose goal is to kill all versions of Sersi in retaliation for the one in Proctor's reality rejecting him. [37] The statue is brought by the Avengers to the knight's castle in England, under the care of Lady Victoria Bentley, an old friend of Whitman. [21] The Black Knight is attacked many times by creatures invoked by the sorcerer Mordred but he finds Captain Britain, who is amnesiac. [volume&issueneeded], The Black Knight was originally a normal athletic human being with no superhuman powers. Dane Whitman made his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Eternals (2021), portrayed by Kit Harington. [7] Percy's murder at the hand of his nemesis Mordred[8] began a string of successors, all of them Percy's descendants. After the "Kang War" arc, the Avengers disband these global teams.

He also shows signs of mental instability. The curse begins to transform Whitman's body into the same mystic metal as the blade. After saving the lives of his fellow soldiers from an explosive in Baghdad, he received the Purple Heart, the Silver Star Medal, and the Medal of Honor, but was left quadriplegic. [73], As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, the Black Knight arrives on Weirdworld after killing Carnivore while losing control to the Ebony Blade, which causes him to flee from the scene of Carnivore's death. [25] Meanwhile, when the Black Knight is devastated by the loss of his sword, he meets the Lady of the lake, who gives him the magic sword Excalibur. [47], The mental health of Sersi becomes worse with time. She was first written into the limited series Vengeance, and is set to reappear in the Young Masters. [76] It is revealed that Whitman accidentally entered Weirdworld, along with a HYDRA submarine, from 1945. In the process, Merlyn reforges the Ebony Sword and King Arthur is resurrected. [35] Ultimately, the blood curse becomes so virulent that it will draw blood from anyone even touching the Black Knight. That all those times he went ballistic were of his own volition, the blade merely exacerbating these qualities to strengthen itself, as that was its true function. 1967). [61] During this time, Whitman fought again with Quicksilver for the affection of the inhuman Crystal, but she rejected both of them. The Black Knight, for example, first sprung from the Arthurian legend of the same name, and, in fact, first appeared before Marvel Comics was established as Marvel Comics. Hiroo Onoda: The Wild True Story Behind 10,000 Nights in the Jungle. When she is framed for the murder of two policemen, Sersi snaps completely, destroying the Avengers mansion and fleeing to the Brooklyn Bridge. Both teams joined forces against Nemesis and The Black Knight struck a blow to Nemesis with a Nazi Ebony Sword that scattered the Infinity gems. Meanwhile, Whitman chooses to stay in the 12th century and is cared for by fellow Defender, the Valkyrie. [volume&issueneeded] After the gann josin link was broken, Whitman returned to being a normal human being. After their defeat, Rogers and Doctor Voodoo agree that the only person who can bear the toll of the Ebony Blade is Whitman, and the Blade also shows this by not allowing any harm to come to Whitman. While sharing the gann josin with Sersi, his strength, speed, and other physical abilities were mildly enhanced. Upon arriving on Weirdworld, he kills King Zaltin Tar to establish New Avalon and builds an army with the help of two warriors named Shield and Spear. [volume&issueneeded] He lost those facilities when he was bested by the Winter Guard's Crimson Widow. [24] Cormac sends Goblins to battle the heroes and briefly captures Moondog. [69], After discovering that he did not have the real Ebony Blade, he goes to Wakanda and is given the real Blade back. Then the character became part of the teams: Heroes for Hire (1997), Excalibur (2003), MI-13 (2008) and Euroforce. 1968). For a brief period while in the service of MI:13, Dane too adopted a hard-light energy shield similar to those used in the past by Captain America and the U.S.Agent. [57] Immediately after defeating the robot, the armada of the Tulkan aliens attacked New York with his powerful elite. Sherlock Holmes 3: Is the Movie Still Happening? Their purpose was to oppose any threats to humanity and free the universe from conflict. After the team-up, Sersi and Whitman decided to be separated. With some convincing from the young heroine Aero however, Dane is able to come to grips with such insights and learn to own his faults in order to help save all of Shanghai from an enclave of Symbiote Dragons taking the form of Swordmaster's own personal boogie man. Since her role in the comics was fleeting, she has yet to be mentioned further. A fourth, unnamed version of The Black Knight was the first woman interpretation of the character. In an attempt to stabilize her, and because she asked, Ikaris mentally bonds Sersi and Whitman with a process called the "Gann Josin", but this does little to slow the disease not in the least due to Whitman's resentment at having the bond imposed upon him, and that he had come to the conclusion that it was Crystal he loved. [89], The Ultimate Marvel version of Dane Whitman appears in the pages of Ultimate Comics: Ultimates as a member of the West Coast Ultimates that preceded the current group by almost a decade. Rebecca pleads with him to turn over the sword to S.H.I.E.L.D. Its "laser" blade is a neural disruptor when used against living beings; when Whitman cuts someone with the sword, it delivers a massive jolt to the being's central nervous system. [88] The conflict is quickly broken up by Jackie who returns after finding the mutilated remains of her history teacher. Here's a breakdown of The Black Knight. Devout Catholic Augustine da Luc was featured as the most religiously zealous version of The Black Knight, who instilled it in himself that he was responsible for the mass conversion to Catholicism. For a time, Dane Whitman also wielded Excalibur in his battles against the evil dark wizard Necromon in Hulk (UK) #42-63, but later relinquished it to a reborn King Arthur. Related: Kit Harington Still Waiting for Marvel to Call About His MCU Future. In New Excalibur, Whitman is invited to join the team, but after the second adventure with them he refuses, as he believes that his Ebony Blade is not the real one and he needs to find the original. He battles Thor in a battle between the living and dead inhabitants of the Marvel Universe in New York City. At the end of the mission, tormented by the genocide inflicted by the Kree Supreme Intelligence on its own people, he and other Avengers follow Iron Man to kill the entity. Instead of returning to the Marvel universe's present, they end up in the 12th century and Whitman once again finds his spirit in the body of Sir Eobar Garrington. Co-creator Roy Thomas commented on the character's conception, "The Black Knight was a combination, visually, of the Black Knight that Stan Lee and Joe Maneely made up in the mid-1950s, with the concept Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done as a villain of that name, complete with winged horse, in The Avengers. [78] Meanwhile, the son of the king that Whitman overthrew to become the new lord gathers the Fangs of the Serpent to attack Whitman. After the battle, the curse converted the Black Knight to a statue of stone again. [18] Whitman's spirit is drawn to the 12th century by the sorcerer Amergin the Druid, and he takes spiritual possession of his ancestor, the Crusader Sir Eobar Garrington, until Garrington dies due to the Evil Eye. [94] Proctor possesses superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes, telepathy, the psionic ability to manipulate the chemical composition of the human brain, and can project destructive energy beams from his eyes. Dane Whitman was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts to a rich family. Whitman returns to the 20th century and his original body is restored. [1] The original Black Knight's descendant and the supervillain Black Knight's nephew, he inherited a mystical sword that carried a curse and took the Black Knight name to help restore honor, and has been a long time member of the Avengers' various incarnations as well as the Defenders, Ultraforce, Heroes for Hire, and MI-13. However, his version of the Black knight does not act as the definitive personification of the character, only a stint throughout the character's history. When the Defenders also are trapped by Casiolena, the Black Knight and a newly invoked Valkyrie joins them in the battle against Casiolena. [55] As leader, Dane Whitman brought Ultraforce in line, adopting new methods, bringing new members, managing the team and having a romantic tension with fellow member Topaz[56], After various adventures with Ultraforce, the Black Knight and other heroes of Ultraverse fought against an Alien robot, Maxis,. Whitman then officially joins the Avengers in recognition of his aid. Dane Whitman appears as a zombified version of himself in Marvel Zombies, in the one-shot issue Marvel Zombies: Dead Days #1. [84] Dane would be amongst a host of other recipients selected by the enigmatic cosmic entity to participate in a tournament to decide its next host. Whitman led the victory against the aliens. In July 2015, it was announced that Frank Tieri and Luca Pizzari would be launching a new Black Knight series as part of Marvel's post-"Secret Wars" relaunch. Much like other aliases, monikers, and alter-egos throughout the Marvel Universe, the title of The Black Knight has been passed down from character to character. After sending his ersatz therapist away for a bit, he decides to contact his predecessor Sir Percy to inquire about how what happened happened. Eternals gave us the smallest glimpse of Kit Harington as Black Knight. Whitman returned to Earth-616 with other exiles through this portal. [46] In a three-man fight with the Black Knight and Deadpool, Bloodwraith accidentally kills Lady Victoria. Dane Whitman or Black Knight is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. [30], Once in modern times again, Whitman learns that the Ebony Blade is cursed: every time it draws blood, it drives its user closer to madness. The writer of the series, Frank Tieri, then considered it a standalone limited series and expressed his feelings over the series being cut short. The open-ended potential for Black Knight as he is now canonically incorporated into live-action could boil down to a Black Knight featured film or series of his own, and thus, properly usher in his origin story. Whitman concludes that for now ruling New Avalon is good, and the story ends on a light tone, Whitman not being persecuted as he has suffered enough under the Blade's spell. [77] As the Uncanny Avengers arrive to arrest Whitman, he unites the armies of the land to fight against them. Kang was given the power of death over the Avengers by the Grandmaster as a prize for winning a recent game that Whitman has become unwittingly involved in. [42], Captain America leaves the Avengers because of these events, and the Black Knight eventually becomes the de facto field leader of the Avengers. [74] Black Knight has the army built in anticipation of the arrival of the Avengers Unity Division, who are seeking to bring him to justice.

Although it was incredibly powerful, it carried a harmful curse that caused Whitman to eventually abandon it. Using the sword in this fashion enables Whitman to punch with some unspecified degree of enhanced strength. He is accompanied by a gift from Amergin: a black, winged horse called Valinor, named after the fictional location of that name. Doctor Strange tries to revert the spell without success. The group is imprisoned by HYDRA until they were freed by the Champions of Europe. Whitman is an excellent swordsman whose skills have allowed him to best Swordsman in combat. He joins the ranks of the supervillain conglomerate Masters of Evil and establishes that his time as the Black Knight is to be viewed as a villain.

[80] Later, he helped Punisher and his kill crew when they were attacking the Dark elves and some trolls. A mortally injured Ute uses the last of his power to create a gateway into another universe where Sersi could be free of the madness and restore her mind. Revealing the swords true nature as an evil blade which amplifies the negative qualities in callow individuals already prone to hatred, violence and negative aspects not the other way around.[86]. [20], Some time later, still in Garrington's body, the wizard Merlyn takes Whitman as his champion. [60], The newly empowered Black Knight helps the Heroes for Hire defeat Nitro, then accepts Iron Fist's offer to join the newly formed team (due primarily to his concern over former teammate and friend Hercules, who has been drinking heavily out of grief for the Avengers' deaths). Here he meets the young heroes Prime and Prototype, members of a local superhero team called Ultraforce. He becomes a member of Ultraforce and begins the search for Sersi. As Black Knight, he is highly unstable and was kept from officially joining the team until he stabilized. He uses the genetic techniques of his uncle to give the horse wings. Whitman first became the Black Knight to atone for the crimes that his uncle Nathan Garrett had committed using the name. [79], In "The War of the Realms" event, the Black Knight, Union Jack, and Spitfire are defeated by Malekith the Accursed. [39] After banishing the villains, Sir Percy's spirit merges with the Ebony Sword, canceling the curse and returning Whitman to his normal state. Taking the appearance of a typical jousting shaft, the power lance is a marvel of technological craftsmanship studded with numerous modern armaments and gadgetry. [41] The Black Knight is involved in the Avengers' attack of the Kree Empire during the Operation Galactic Storm, forming part of the team that went to the capital world in Hala. The creativity throughout Marvel Comics, despite their distinct brand in the superhero genre, spans past the binaries of superheroes and supervillains. [29] Black Knight and Captain Britain are briefly kidnapped by the Grandmaster to participate in the original Contest of Champions. [28] In the Otherworld dimension, the Black Knight and Captain Britain go to save Camelot from the attacks of the Nethergod Necromon. The third character to bear the Black Knight name, he was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and first appeared in The Avengers #47 (Dec. He was traveling with the Enchantress to the realm of the Asgardian sorceress Casiolena, to a parallel dimension. [volume&issueneeded]. Whitman is sent to the Slorenian border, where the Bloodwraith has used the Ebony Blade to absorb the souls of the entire population after they have been killed by the android Ultron. I wasn't even that great an admirer of The Lord of the Rings. Sir Percy was succeeded by Nathan Garrett, who was the second to assume the responsibilities of The Black Knight, this time in Marvel Comics.