Actor Kumail Nanjiani still loves Marvel’s Eternals despite the poor response it got from viewers.
In an interview on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Nanjiani, who plays Bollywood star Kingo in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film, revealed that Eternals has a special place in his heart, despite the “divisive” reception from audiences and critics. “It would’ve been great to not have that thing where [Emily V. Gordon] says like, ‘You have to have more f*** you about all this, like f*** you this is good I love it,” Nanjiani said. “I love Eternals, I think it’s fantastic. It did bum me out that it was sort of divisive. I think it’s a very very, [director Chloé Zhao] made a very very ambitious huge movie that’s very different from most comic book movies. She went for a really really high bar. Of course, it would’ve been great if every single person on Earth loved it, but I love it.”
Nanjiani then went on to share his belief that audience response to Eternals might improve over time. “I still think at some point people are going to rewatch that movie and realize that there’s a lot more to it to give it credit for,” he said. “I love Chloe, she’s such a great filmmaker.”
Eternals was the first MCU film to be directed by Zhao, who won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2020 for Nomadland. The film won Best Picture that same year. Eternals, however, received a lukewarm reception and became the lowest-rated MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes following its November 2021 release. However, earlier this year, Eternals fans claimed that the film had been snubbed after Marvel Studios did not submit it for the best VFX category for the 94th Academy Awards.
Eternals follows the eponymous team of 10 immortal beings who secretly came to Earth thousands of years ago to rid the world of the ruthless monsters known as Deviants. While the superpowered group drifts apart and begins to lead their own lives after they seemingly destroy the last of the Deviants in 1521, everything changes when Sersi (Gemma Chan) encounters a Deviant named Kro while living peacefully in London in the present day.
The Future of the Eternals in the MCU
The future of the Eternals remains unclear and Nanjiani has previously spoken about whether or not his character, Kingo, will return for another MCU project. “I genuinely don’t know when or if Kingo is coming back to the MCU,” he said. “I really have no idea. I’m just really excited about the direction they’re going. The new people they’ve cast are really good. I just saw the new Black Panther movie, and I’ve never seen a blockbuster like that, that’s so complicated and tragic, in so many different ways, but also really fun and funny and thrilling. So, I think they’re really stretching and doing some great stuff right now. I’d love to come back and do stuff, but I genuinely have no idea.”
Eternals is now available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Happy Sad Confused Podcast