Warning: The following contains spoilers for Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #3, by Si Spurrier, Sergio Davila, Sean Parsons, Arif Prianto, Chris Sotomayor and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
Even though his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Eternals is mere months away, the Black Knight has had a tumultuous time as of late, facing the grim realities of the Ebony Blade's curse while contemplating his own place within the Marvel Universe's superhero community. And as Dane Whitman undergoes his existential crisis, he endured a gruesome brush with death only to discover that he mysteriously gained an incredible new power: The ability to rise from the dead fully healed due to his connection to the Ebony Blade and Arthurian lineage.
And as Black Knight learns more about the nature of this strange, new power and hints that it makes him stronger, at least for a time, upon each resurrection, the power lines up with that of the Saiyans in Dragon Ball.
Every time Goku recovered from a grievous injury endured from his numerous battles, he quietly became stronger than before. Shortly after Goku learned about his Saiyan heritage, Vegeta informed him that, as a warrior race, Saiyans grew stronger after each major injury as part of their natural evolution. Goku, Vegeta and Gohan all benefited from this genetic trait, helping Goku transform into a Super Saiyan for the first time after watching his best friend Krillin die at the hands of Frieza. And this particular character trope is also one that extends to the DC Universe.
One of the most powerful supervillains in the DCU is Doomsday, the product of decades of cruel genetic engineering to create the ultimate life form. Raised thousands of years ago on Krypton, a visiting scientist named Bertron created a clone and repeatedly subjected it to prehistoric Krypton's harsh conditions killing it and cloning it again with the genetic memory of each traumatic death. Each subsequent clone would emerge stronger, immune to what killed it previously. After decades of forced evolution, the ultimate killing machine Doomsday was born. Imprisoned on Earth for millennia, Doomsday emerged and proved strong enough to pick apart the Justice League and singlehandedly kill Superman, growing stronger after each defeat.
Dane Whitman's ability to rise from the dead is due to his lineage as being a distant descendant of the mythical King Arthur; anyone related to the English king could rise from the grave when in direct contact with the Ebony Blade. And just like Saiyans and Doomsday, Dane appears to be noticeably stronger after each resurrection. This magical immortality came at a steep price, however, with the Black Knight visibly darker and more corrupted by the Ebony Blade upon each of his recent revivals.
Like Goku and Doomsday, the Black Knight has gone from a fantasy-oriented superhero to one for whom death is merely an inconvenience. However, the Black Knight has already proved himself to be formidable in his own right before his resurrections and, with the Ebony Blade's corrosive properties becoming steadily more apparent as Dane is constantly resurrected, this particular former Avenger may force Earth's Mightiest Heroes to assemble against should he succumb to the blade and grow out of control. And even if the Avengers deliver a mortal blow against a rampaging Black Knight, Dane will rise again only stronger and more violent, making the fantasy hero something of a ticking time bomb.