Kumail Nanjiani Thought He’d Be in the MCU for 10 Years Due to the Contract He Signed
When Eternals was released back in 2021, Marvel Studios was hoping for a game-changer. Instead, it became their first “Rotten” movie on Rotten Tomatoes and struggled at the box office with a modest $402 million global haul.
Now, nearly four years later, Kumail Nanjiani is opening up about the emotional toll the film’s reception had on him, and the surprisingly massive number of MCU projects he originally signed up for.
Nanjiani played Kingo in the film and a recent interview, the actor got candid about how deeply the negative response affected him.
“It came out right after COVID, so I had a year and a half at home to be just like, ‘When this thing comes out...’ It came out, it got really bad reviews, and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much. That was when I was like, ‘Oh, I need to go to therapy to figure this out.’”
Beyond the reviews, the bigger surprise might be just how many projects Marvel had in mind for Kingo. Nanjiani revealed that he signed on for much more than just one movie.
“I was like, ‘This is going to be my job for the next ten years.’ I signed on for six movies. I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride.
“They make you sign on for all this stuff. You’re like, ‘Okay, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year, and in between, I’ll do my own little things. Whatever I want to do.’”
But none of it materialized.
“None of that happened. For me, what really hit me was realising that too much of my self-esteem is wrapped up in other people’s reactions to my work. People have way bigger problems than this.”
Despite the emotional rollercoaster, Nanjiani still holds Eternals in high regard.
“There were a few too many people in Eternals if the reviews are to be believed. I loved the movie. I’m very proud of it.”
The film, directed by Chloé Zhao, was clearly positioned as a major pillar for Marvel’s future, with early Oscar buzz and speculation it could launch a saga on the scale of X-Men. Yet to this day, Marvel has remained silent on resolving the film’s cliffhanger, and the fate of the Eternals taken by Arishem remains unknown.
Kingo did return in animated form for an episode of What If...?, but there’s been no live-action follow-up. There are rumors that Nanjiani might be making the leap to the DC Universe to play Booster Gold, though nothing is confirmed.
Still, his story offers a fascinating look at the unpredictable nature of Hollywood, even when you’re part of the world’s biggest cinematic franchise.