Kumail Nanjiani Just Made the Best Case for Eternals Becoming a Cult Classic by 2030

Marvel's Eternals never quite clicked with audiences the way the studio hoped, but one of its stars is still all-in on it. Kumail Nanjiani, who played Kingo, just looked back on the movie with zero regrets — and honestly, his take is refreshing.

Kumail on Eternals: no notes

On NPR's 'Wild Card' podcast, Nanjiani said he's proud of what he did in the film and wouldn't tweak a thing, even with the bruised box office and mixed reviews.

'I’m very proud of my performance in it. And it’s rare to say, but I actually wouldn’t change anything about how I am in that movie.'

It's a nice counter to the doom-and-gloom narrative around the movie. He backs what he and the ensemble pulled off, regardless of how it landed at the time.

Kevin Feige was sold on Chloé Zhao's vision

Before release, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige was talking up Eternals in a big way. Speaking to Rolling Stone, he praised director Chloé Zhao for marrying her intimate, character-first style with a giant, cosmic-scale story that spans thousands of years — exactly the vibe he wanted for this corner of the MCU. He’s even called Zhao's pitch one of Marvel’s best, and said she immediately understood what the studio was aiming for.

That enthusiasm tracks with what Eternals attempted: a different flavor of Marvel that wasn’t designed to feed directly into the next crossover event.

Why Eternals felt different (and why that mattered)

• Structure: Instead of the usual origin-then-team-up blueprint, the movie jumps between past and present to build out a group of immortals who already have history — it plays more like a self-contained epic than a cog in a machine.
• Scope: It’s a sweeping, multi-millennia story about gods walking among us, which is a swing even by Marvel standards.
• Style: For a franchise known for greenscreen, Zhao leaned hard into real locations and a more grounded, natural look, using practical elements where she could.
• Focus: The movie prioritizes character drama over MCU homework, dialing down the spectacle just enough to let the relationships breathe.
• Representation: The ensemble's diversity isn’t a checkbox — it’s baked into the premise and themes, which is a big part of its identity.

The results, and the fallout

Eternals pulled in about $402 million worldwide and landed at 47% with critics and 77% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes — not a disaster, but not the kind of run that keeps a new sub-franchise humming at Marvel. As the broader MCU shifted gears, Eternals became the odd project out. The prevailing read is that it got sidelined by the studio’s changing priorities; some folks even consider it shelved for good. Whether that sticks long-term is anyone’s guess, but for now, the movie stands on its own little island.

The basics, if you need a refresher

Directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kumail Nanjiani, Eternals was meant to feel like a standalone myth inside the MCU. If you missed it — or want to revisit what they were going for — it’s streaming on Disney+ in the US.