Representation is an important aspect of the media that, sadly, not many people think about. Up until recently, it hasn't really been the strongest aspect of the MCU.
Now, no one's blaming one person or thing. It's that it arguably isn't a notable factor in the projects being put out by Marvel Studios. Thankfully, Marvel is starting to change, which was evidenced by the recent Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Ms. Marvel, which features the first Pakistani-American superhero, and Echo in Hawkeye, who is a deaf Native American, are also helping to push the boundaries of representation in the MCU.
Wheels are turning in the right direction. Even bigger is a film that is right around the corner: Eternals.
Thanks to that movie, many people around the world will have a superhero who appears like them to look up to, something which wasn't there before—and that's only the beginning.
Actor Kumail Nanjiani, who portrays the Eternal Kingo, is excited about all of the barriers being broken. In fact, he'd even like to play in the MCU sandbox with a few of them.
Eternals' Kingo, Ms. Marvel, and Drax Walk into a Bar
In a conversation with Rolling Stone, Eternals actor Kumail Nanjiani was able to touch upon his time as Kingo in the upcoming Marvel Studios film.
Nanjiani mentioned how excited he was about the representation power Eternals has, but also, that at the same time, "[he] couldn't really think of the representation thing... [or] the pressure would have flattened [him]:"
"It’s pretty cool. It’s also pressure, because it’s a big group of people, millions of people, represented in superhero form, that has not gotten to do that. But going into the job, I couldn’t really think of the representation thing. The pressure would’ve flattened me. The fact that people are this excited to see me is awesome. It’s also a little sad that they had to wait so long."
When asked about other MCU characters that the actor would want to see his character Kingo interact with, Nanjiani was quick to point to Ms. Marvel.
He said that "[he] would be excited to hopefully interact with Ms. Marvel at some point," though he did end up finalizing his pick: Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer.
Why? Well, "[he's] friends with Dave Bautista," having co-starred with the Guardians of the Galaxy actor in 2019's Stuber:
"I’m very excited to hopefully interact with Ms. Marvel at some point — she’s a Pakistani teenage superhero [character], and I think she’s in the new Marvels movie [the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel]. Kingo and Thor would be an interesting pairing, and Kingo and Shang-Chi. But number one would be Drax the Destroyer, because I’m friends with Dave Bautista. It would be really cool to do an MCU storyline with him."
Kingo Befriends the Marvel Universe
Just Nanjiani's talk alone makes it seem evident that fans can expect to see the character live on past his debut film Eternals—which, for the record, is not a given.
As for what he'd do with Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, well that's a great question. Fans could get a better idea of that after The Marvels, which is set to take the street-level superhero into space.
Imagine how incredible it would be if the post-credits scene was Ms. Marvel running into the remnants of the Eternals; they could be her faux Inhumans family, seeing as Marvel doesn't want to seem to want anything to do with that set of characters.
As for Drax, in theory, that's not a hard situation to make happen. Fans will have to wait to see what Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has in store for them and if Dave Bautista will truly be done with the role.
Eternals hits theaters on November 5, 2021.
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