Kumail Nanjiani says that he signed on for six Marvel movies when he was cast as the superhero Kingo in Marvel Studios’ “Eternals,” but that the film’s critical and commercial disappointment “shattered” him and led him to seek out therapy.
The topic came up in Nanjiani’s appearance on fellow stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia’s “Working It Out” podcast. Nanjiani revealed that his Marvel experience is a key subject in his new stand-up special, releasing on Hulu later this year.
“I talked about how I was in this big movie. It came out right after COVID, so I had a year and a half at home to just be like, ‘Oh, when this thing comes out!’” Nanjiani shared. “But then it came out and it got really bad reviews and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much. That’s when I was like, ‘Oh I need to go to therapy to figure this out.’”
Nanjiani confirmed that the project was “Eternals,” explaining that he thought he would be much more involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be my job for the next 10 years,’” Nanjiani continued. “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 up for all this stuff. And you’re like, ‘This is the next 10 years of my life, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year and, in between, I’ll do my own little things, whatever I want to do.’ And then none of that happened.”
“Eternals” released in November 2021 and was the worst-reviewed Marvel Cinematic Universe entry up to that point. It grossed $402 million globally, which was seen as a theatrical disappointment for a $200 million-budgeted franchise entry from a blockbuster banner like Marvel Studios. Since then, Nanjiani’s Kingo and his fellow Eternals heroes haven’t featured in another another Marvel project.
Marvel is currently gearing up for the team-up “Avengers: Doomsday” in 2026, which will bring together characters from across various projects. However, no “Eternals” cast members have been revealed to be part of the film’s ensemble thus far.
“For me, what really hit me was just realizing that too much of my self-esteem is tied up in other people’s reaction to my work,” Nanjiani reflected before jokingly adding, “Also, other people have way bigger problems than this!”
