Let’s go back to Kumar. Remember when he said his Marvel contract was kind of strange? The Eternals alum said he was supposed to sign a contract for SIX Marvel films and a game. SIX Marvel films and one game. And then… nothing. Like, totally nothing in return.
He said in one interview recently that since he signed the deal he had thought, “Okay cool so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year and in between I’ll do my own little projects.” Then he just kind of went, “That never happened.” Oof. That has got to sting a bit, right? Thinking that you are good for the next decade of your career and then… silence.
Everything started with that tweet from cosmic_marvel, which exploded with reaction comments, and the reactions just exploded in all different directions. Some of them started defending Eternals and said, “Eternals was overhated. The movie should have gotten a sequel to improve the saga,” which, like, fair? Others are just trashing it outright. “No thanks, stick to Bollywood movies” is a reply, which is harsh but also… kind of funny in a mean kind of way.
Then there was the debate on whether the movie was really great or not. Some players say it grossed $402 million worldwide during the pandemic without China, so… definitely not nothing? Then there are others calling it a flop and saying nobody cares about Eternals. Someone even went as far to say, “Only weirdos like the externals lol,” which… okay, then.
But the real tea is that Kumail thought he was going to be a great part of the MCU for years to come. Six movies and a game? That’s like Chris Evans level commitment. Lesson learned: Eternals were shallow-yet-jointed.passable reviews and Marvel just went moving on? At least for now. But wait—players suggest his contract might still be alive, with someone going, “Well, at least that means he’s under contract and will obligatorily return in the next saga,” so there may be hope that we haven’t yet seen the last of Kingo.
And then there’s the game thing. A Marvel game with Kingo? Does anybody even know about that? Was it going to be an Eternals game? A cameo in something else? We don’t know. And that’s just another thing that got lost in the shuffle. It’s very much like when you plan your entire year and then life comes around and none of it goes how you thought.
The replies are a garbage pile too—people arguing about whether the movie was good, whether the characters are interesting, whether they should come back. “JUSTICE FOR ETERNALS,” says one person, which is definitely the vibe. Then there’s the other crowd being like, “recaste him after secret wars always complaining it’s not marvels fault you ain’t making money bum,” which is, let’s just say, confrontational.
It’s funny how polarizing this movie still is. Some players want more, some players swear it was the worst thing Marvel ever did. And poor Kumail, trapped in the middle with 6-movie-worth of a contract that might never see daylight. But hey, at least he got to be in one MCU film, right? That’s more than most of us.
And like, what’s up with Marvel signing people for so many movies and then not using them? This is not the first time this has happened. Remember when everybody was thinking Spider-Man was gonna be in like ten movies? Contracts are just weird. They plan so far ahead and then things change and actors just get left hanging.
But then again, maybe that gives some hope. With the multiverse and secret wars on the horizon, Kingo might make a comeback. That could mean the video game still happening. Or not. Who really knows? What we really do know is that Kumail thought he was gonna be a Marvel regular and it didn’t go that way. And that’s pretty bittersweet.
There’s the story. Kumail Nanjiani signed some humungous deal with Marvel and was expected to be in multiple movies and a game… then nothing. Faithfully showing the world that big and all as this machine called MCU may be, things simply do not always go as planned. And it’s showbiz, baby.
