At a time when it seemed Marvel Studios could not miss, it delivered one of its biggest disappointments. 2021’s Eternals failed to land with critics and, in a fresh post-COVID environment, struggled at the box office. The film deviated heavily from the much-discussed “Marvel formula“, introducing a large cast of characters and leaning heavily into philosophical influences.
It was clear at the time that the studio had big plans for future projects, including a major role for Kit Harrington‘s Dane Whitman and a spinoff featuring Harry Styles‘ Starfox, who appeared in one of the film’s tags. However, as time went on, it became clear that Eternals was likely to be a one-shot. After rumors of Marvel shelving a sequel to Eternals landed online in early 2024, Kevin Feige confirmed that there were “no immediate plans” to move forward with a follow-up.
Despite having one of the studio’s most talented ensemble casts, the only lasting impact Eternals has had on the MCU was to introduce Adamantium into the mix in Captain America: Brave New World. Even without a sequel in the works, the film’s stars such as Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Kumail Nanjiani have yet to find themselves integrated into other projects, leading to speculation they may never be seen again, despite some of them being more than willing to return to the MCU.
Yeah! I mean, listen, I have plans today. I don’t know if they have plans. I would love to come back. But I’m sort of waiting to hear when or if that’s going to happen. I’m hoping I get to do more. I had a great time playing that character. It’d be a shame if he’s a sort of one and done. But, you know, the decision’s not mine to make.
–Kumail Nanjiani on the future of the Eternals franchise, January 2023
In 2023, Nanjiani indicated that while he would “love to come back” as Kingo, he was unaware whether or not Marvel had plans to move ahead with an Eternals sequel. Now, in a new interview, Nanjiani opened up about Marvel Studios grandiose plans for the failed franchise and how it’s poor landing impacted him.
“It came out right after COVID, so I had a year and a half at home to be just like, ‘When this thing comes out…‘” said Nanjiani of the anticipated impact Eternals would have on his career. “It came out, it got really bad reviews, and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much. That was when I was like, ‘Oh, I need to go to therapy to figure this out.”
Any disappointment fans may have had in the response to the film multiplied for Nanjiani. As he shared, Marvel intended for Eternals to launch its own franchise, including additional movies, video game appearances and even a ride at Disney Parks.
“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,” explained Nanjiani. “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.’”
Reading between the lines of Nanjiani‘s comments, it sounds as though not only was an Eternals trilogy in the pipeline but also appearances in other projects, likely including Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which has since been scrapped, and Avengers: Secret Wars. However, four years later, Nanjiani‘s Kingo has only appeared in Marvel Animation’s What If…? and as he explained, it doesn’t sound as though he has any future appearances scheduled at the moment.
“None of that happened,” he lamented. “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.”
Of course, recent years have provided plenty of evidence that the studio never truly puts any character fully to rest. Tim Roth and Tim Blake Nelson recently returned to their respective roles after more than a decade on the sidelines and with an all-new, all-different mutant-centric saga on deck, maybe there will be new life for the Eternals, too.
Source: YouTube
