As Phase 4 of the MCU comes to a close, actor Kumail Nanjiani has opened up about the negative response to Eternals, which had Chloe Zhao attached as director.
The film garnered a mixed response from the audience upon its release in November 2021 with several people criticising it for its bloated plot and runtime. Some even bashed it for its lack of connections to the greater MCU.
Opening about the lackluster reception to the film, Nanjiani said, “It would’ve been great to not have that thing where Emily says like, “You have to have more f*** you about all this, like f*** you this is good I love it.” I love Eternals, I think it is fantastic.”
The actor further added, “It did bum me out that it was sort of divisive. I think Chloe made a very, very ambitious huge movie that’s very different from most comic book movies. She went for a really, really high bar.”
“Of course, it would have been great if every single person on Earth loved it, but I love it. I still think at some point people are going to rewatch that movie and realize that there’s a lot more to it to give it credit for. I love Chloe, she is such a great filmmaker,” he wrapped up.
In an earlier interview with People, Nanjiani said that for him, it is more important to play characters who are complicated. “I am not interested in playing boring, good, noble characters. And the idea that I can't play a certain type of character just because I am not right is not acceptable to me. So, for me, my goal is to play interesting, flawed characters. I really was, I was excited to play this guy,” said the 44-year-old.