Eternals was released in 2021, and despite early Oscar buzz (largely due to the cast and Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao being at the helm), it became Marvel Studios' first "Rotten" movie.
Throw in the fact that it dropped during the final months of the pandemic, and the blockbuster struggled to make its mark at the box office, grossing only $402 million worldwide. It wasn't necessarily a flop, but it sure didn't turn much of a profit.
The movie was overstuffed, but there was a lot about Eternals that worked. Unfortunately, four years later, Marvel Studios has yet to reveal what became of the movie's leads after they were taken from Earth by Arishem for judgment after their role in stopping Tiamut's emergence.
Kevin Feige, meanwhile, has confirmed that there are no plans for Eternals 2, meaning we'll have to rely on another project doing something to resolve that cliffhanger.
In an officially released clip from Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts, the actor addresses the negative response to the movie and shares a hilariously blunt message for those who made fun of his new, bulked-up frame as Kingo.
As we're sure you'll recall, the photos of a shirtless Nanjiani went viral when they were first revealed. However, there was also a lot of unnecessary negativity surrounding his impressive transformation.
"'Oh, your big Hollywood movie didn't do well? Are we supposed to feel sorry for you?' No, I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I don't. But I get to feel sorry for me. This is my life. I'm inside of here. I worked really hard for a year on something that I thought was going to be awesome. When it came out, everyone was like, 'No, it sucks. Also, we think you're stupid. Also, we've decided you're gonna be the first person we mock for getting in shape.' What? How the f*** did that happen? That's happened to nobody else in the history of civilization."
"Why me? 'Oh, he got abs? What a moron.' What? Who changed the rules? Why didn't anybody give me a heads-up? Do you know how hard this was? I have not smelled cake in years. And now I know all of you are waiting for me to go back to how I was. Oh, it'll make you so happy if I go back to how I was. So, now I'm stuck in this prison, 'cause I don't want to give you the satisfaction. There's no reason for me to be buff anymore, but I am because f*** you. I'll be doing pushups on my deathbed because f*** you. When I look at cake and want to eat it, I think of how happy it'll make you if I eat i,t and that gives me the strength to not eat it."
In a separate interview with NPR, Nanjiani reiterated that he remains proud of his work in the MCU movie. "I do not get to choose what the reviewers are going to think of it," the actor said. "What I do get to choose is whether or not I learned from it, you know?"
Earlier this year, the Eternals star revealed that he'd anticipated becoming a huge part of the MCU. Instead, that all went away when it failed to live up to expectations. "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,'" Nanjiani continued. "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."
The actor later reprised the role of Kingo in a standout episode of What If...? alongside Kathryn Hahn. There's been no sign of him in live-action, though rumours persist that Nanjiani is gearing up to make the leap to the DCU as its Booster Gold.