Kumail Nanjiani calls The Eternals ‘the most sci-fi’ movie of the MCU

Kumail Nanjiani teases the science fiction elements of Marvel’s The Eternals.

The Eternals’ Kumail Nanjiani shared some new tidbits about Marvel’s latest, cosmic outing with EW. The actor not only confirmed that the film will play out over thousands of years, but he also says it will be Marvel’s most sci-fi movie to date:

"“It’s a superhero story, but in some ways, it’s the most sci-fi of all the Marvel movies and it’s the most epic of all the Marvel movies. And the story spans thousands of years. So it’s really not like any of the other Marvel movies.”"

Nanjiani, a fan of superhero films, says Eternals is the kind of project that’s best suited for him. “I love superhero movies,” he declared. “But beyond that, this is exactly the type of movie that I love.” Describing it as “epic in the old-school way,” he attributes the creative choices to the leadership of the director and producers:

"“Chloe [Zhao], our director, and Nate [Moore], our producer, and Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] — they’ve been just so open to everything and so passionate. I mean, they’ve made 25 of these movies and it still feels like they’re living their dreams every day, which is certainly what I’ve been doing for the last six months.”"

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One other reason he believes the film “doesn’t look like any of the other Marvel movies” is the diversity in its cast, something that became particularly clear to him after seeing a production still:

"“I was on set shooting, and the director showed me just a still of all of us together in the scene. And I was like, ‘I mean, look at all of us together.’ We all look so different. It’s me and a huge buff guy from Korea [Ma Dong-seok] and Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie and Gemma Chan and Lauren Ridloff. You don’t ever get to see people like this together in the same room, let alone in awesome superhero costumes.”"

Originally created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s, The Eternals featured characters and storylines that were heavily influenced by Kirby’s work with DC Comics’ New Gods. The heroes are distinct from other characters in the Marvel Universe in that they have limitless abilities and are essentially immortal. It’s currently unclear as to whether or not this will be the case in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Kingo Sunen, Nanjiani’s character, was introduced in The Eternals No. 11 as a member of a group of Eternals based in Japan. A master swordsman, he eventually adopted the present-day persona of a Japanese film star best known for playing samurai. How much of this carries into the film’s version of Kingo is unknown.

The Eternals will further expand the cosmic realm of the MCU, which has, so far, been explored in the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor and Avengers franchises. The cosmic entities make their big-screen debuts when the movie hits theaters on November 6.