Kumail Nanjiani Thought ‘Eternals’ Would Lead To “10 Years” Of MCU Work

Nearly four years later, Kumail Nanjiani‘s MCU future doesn’t look bright after the critical and commercial flop that was Eternals (2021).

The Oscar nominee, who previously underwent a major physical transformation for the part of Kingo, noted that he “signed on for six movies,” thinking the Chloé Zhao-helmed movie would lead to more work with Marvel.

“It came out, it got really bad reviews, and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much,” he said on the Working It Out podcast. “That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, I need to go to therapy to figure this out.’”

Nanjiani continued, “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, ‘This is the next ten years of my life. 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.’

“For me, what really hit me, was just realizing too much of my self esteem was tied up in other people’s reaction to my work,” he added.

With a star-studded cast including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden and Brian Tyree Henry, Nanjiana said, “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 the movie.”

Eternals made $402M at the global box office, currently holding a 47% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2022, Nanjiani admitted he has “no idea” if a sequel is happening, despite reports that a followup was in the works. “I honestly don’t know anything,” he said. “I would love for Kingo to come back. I love playing that character. That one’s very fun to play, you’re just in a good mood. You do finger guns, you’re like a movie star – what’s not to love? You’re just in a good mood the entire time.”