How Kumail Nanjiani's Eternals Character Breaks Stereotypes
Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani recently discussed how his character, Kingo, deviates from problematic and stereotypical portrayals of brown people in Hollywood. The film itself is directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao and will serve as the 26th film in the overarching Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite being a rather late entry to the franchise, Eternals promises to deliver a unique take on the superhero movie storytelling, while also introducing an entire cast of new faces to the universe based on one of Jack Kirby's more obscure comic book teams.
In the comics, Kingo actually appears as a Japanese samurai who, in modern times, has a successful career as an action movie star in Japan. The character has been reimagined for Zhao's film, catering to Nanjiani's South Asian heritage. Nanjiani's Kingo instead is a charismatic A-list Bollywood star who leaves behind his lavish lifestyle to aid the Eternals in their struggle against the nefarious Deviants. In altering Kingo's background for the film, Nanjiani and Zhao had the opportunity to craft a character from scratch that could depart from traditional stereotypes reserved for South Asian and Middle Eastern characters in film.
In a recent interview with the LA Times, Nanjiani pointed out the specific stereotypes that Eternals' Kingo challenges. He says that lesser Hollywood films portray brown men as being either "nerdy" or "terrorists." Instead, the actor says that he "wanted [Kingo] to be cool" and "full of joy." Check out Nanjiani's full statements below:
He’s an Eternal so he’s been here for thousands of years. He has these super powers and he’s become a Bollywood movie star. All the Eternals have been in human society to different degrees, but he’s the one who really immersed himself and falls in love with the trappings of modernity. And he loves being rich. He loves being famous. He loves being an Eternal. I’ve been in this industry for about a decade and I looked at the usual opportunities that the brown dudes get. We get to be nerdy. I wanted him to be the opposite of that — I wanted him to be cool. With nerdy goes “weakling,” and I wanted him to be the opposite of that and to be strong physically. Or we get to be terrorists, and I wanted him to be the opposite of that. I wanted him to be this character full of joy. In working with Chloé, we were like, let’s take every single thing that I haven’t gotten to do and make a character who’s the exact opposite of the way a lot of American pop culture see people from Pakistan or the Middle East.
Kingo is not the only Eternal to receive an updated background for Zhao's film; in fact, the crew behind Eternals has taken many creative liberties with the film's incarnations of Kirby's classic characters. Sersi and Gilgamesh are two other notable Eternals who received updated backgrounds for the film. In the comics, the two are traditionally portrayed as coming from Mediterranean and Sumerian culture, respectively. However, for the film, Sersi is portrayed by Gemma Chan who is of Chinese descent, while Gilgamesh is played by Don Lee who himself is of South Korean descent.
Given that the Eternals are among the more obscure branches of Marvel Comics lore, Zhao's film is the perfect opportunity to reimagine the team. She and Nanjiani will have an opportunity to inspire communities that are underrepresented (or, in the case of South Asian depictions, oftentimes, misrepresented) in blockbuster cinema by incorporating diverse backgrounds and perspectives into the film. James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy has already set a precedent for wild retoolings of obscure characters, so it stands to reason that Zhao's Eternals will be able to do the same.
Source: LA Times
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