Eternals
Marvel’sEternalsmovie could have introduced audiences to the MCU ’s first large screen Japanese superhero , but Marvel Studios let this chance luxate away . Kumail Nanjiani ’s character in the MCU , Kingo , is in reality Nipponese in the comics , yet Eternals decided to race - swap him . Hulu’sRunawaysseries has Nico Minoru ( Lyrica Okano ) , an actress of Japanese filiation , but this character and her show are only broadly connected to the MCU and wo n’t be in any of the films or Disney+ shows .
Kingo Sunen is a minor persona in Marvel Comics with an extremely limited identification number of appearance . His only crucial arc amount in theEternalslimited series from the 1980s . Like Ikaris , Thena , and all the others , Kingo is a member of the cosmic - powered immortal backwash known as the Eternals , a group of people who have been partake in the Earth for thousands of years . During the sixteenth century , the Japanese Eternal learned the ways of the Samurai , and in the modern epoch , Kingo is a famous movie genius who have Samurai movies in Japan . He also serves as the mentor ofRansak the Reject , a keyEternalscharacter .
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At SDCC 2019 , Marvel announced thecast ofEternals , and among the characters confirmed to be in the movie is Kingo , except he wo n’t be play by a Japanese actor . Instead , he ’ll be portrayed by Pakistani - American Kumail Nanjiani . Also , footage fromEternalsshown at CCXPrevealed that Kingo will keep his movie doer scope , but he ’ll be a Bollywood star , rather than an actor who plays direct roles in Samurai films .
If Marvel Studios had followed the comics , Kingo Sunen would have been the MCU ’s very first Nipponese superhero , another massive footstep in theatrical performance for Phase 4 , which is already making an Asian paladin the central protagonist inShang - Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings , along with several other significant tread . concede , the cast of Kumail Nanjiani is still good Asian theatrical , but it feels like a miss chance for Marvel to precede a Nipponese superhero , specially since the character was meant to be from Japan in the first place . A Nipponese deity with ties to the Samurai could have been a playfulness and diverse addition to Phase 4 .
After all , there are n’t a lot of pick for Marvel Studios when it comes to Japanese heroes . Marvel Comics hasSunfireandArmorfrom the pages ofX - humanity , and a few more obscure torpedo . Kingo Sunen served as a rare prospect for Marvel to put a Nipponese grinder on the big screen without receive to exchange the race of an existing character . alas , they went in a dissimilar steering - but that does n’t imply Nanjiani ’s portrayal wo n’t be good inEternals ; it ’ll just be different .
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