Dane Whitman Can Fill The Scientist Hole Left By Tony Stark

Dane Whitman Can Fill The Scientist Hole Left By Tony Stark

When Dane Whitman, a.k.a. the Black Knight, makes his MCU debut in Eternals, he could take over Iron Man’s role as Marvel’s main superhero scientist.

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Dane Whitman Can Fill The Scientist Hole Left By Tony Stark

After Iron Man’s heroic sacrifice at the end of Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs a lead scientist, and Eternals’ Black Knight could be the perfect replacement. Directed by Chloé Zhao, Eternals will feature an ensemble cast as the titular team of extraterrestrials, including Angelina Jolie, Kumail Najiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, and Gemma Chan. Although it will likely be set on and around Earth, the film looks to be another decisive foray into the cosmic realm of the MCU, following in the footsteps of Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, and Thor: Ragnarok.

Many of the protagonists of the first three MCU phases were scientists or else were closely aided by decidedly science-based sidekicks. Tony Stark, partly due to his strong personality and partly due to the fact that Iron Man was the very first MCU film, was often at the forefront of these characters, both for better or sometimes for worse, as in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Eternals as a whole, with their strong science-fantasy flavor, likely won’t stray into this area, but the announced cast suggests they will encounter someone who might.

Not typically associated with the Eternals in the comic books, Dane Whitman is one of many people to claim the moniker of the Black Knight. Although it has little to do, and even markedly contrasts, with his superhero origin story, which involves a magical cursed sword passed down through his family line since the time of King Arthur, Whitman is scientist by nature and was even educated in physics. Beyond a surface level-similarity to the techy Stark, this personality trait gives him the potential to echo some of the significance that the original Iron Man had in the wider MCU narrative: Tony Stark, while beloved for Robert Downey Jr.’s dry one-liners, importantly served as both explainer of scientific ideas and skeptic of magical weirdness when in the context of larger Avengers moments. Dane Whitman, being the Black Knight, may already be on board with magic, but his apparent role as Eternals’ only significant human character among a bunch of aliens still makes him especially suitable for these twin responsibilities.

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Other potential figures from Marvel’s vast scientist pantheon, such as Bruce Banner or Reed Richards, are less likely to be used in this way in Phase Four for a variety of reasons. Avengers: Endgame seemed to bring some reconciliation between Banner and the Hulk, which will likely make him a more peripheral, static character, while Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four movie that will introduce the team, including Mr. Fantastic, to the MCU is still in the very early stages of development. Dane Whitman, conversely, is already scheduled to be introduced this year, and he will be free from any complications and obligations from previous films. And because Eternals is poised to be one of the more outlandish cinematic Marvel properties when it releases, having Whitman ground the eccentricity in (movie) science could help with the accessibility of both the individual film and the MCU at large.

On a broader thematic level, if Dane Whitman does step into these scientist shoes, it also might continue the potential Phase Four trend of externalizing the internal conflict of previous phases. In the same way that She-Hulk and Abomination look to represent the two sides of Bruce Banner’s classic struggle, so too could Whitman and a sorcerer, potentially Doctor Strange or the Scarlet Witch, represent a magic-versus-science dilemma. Of course, because the Infinity Saga leaned much more heavily into science fiction than fantasy, the only real precedent to this is Stephen Strange’s initial skepticism of magic. But given the popularity of WandaVision and the level of mystical craziness that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness promises to bring, having someone in the MCU stay true to the hard-science approach would balance the lore scales nicely. And if that person happens to have magical powers himself, then it’s just another encouragingly eccentric choice made by the people behind Eternals.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/dane-whitman-scientist-tony-stark-replace/

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