Warning: This article contains — very minor — spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode 2 and Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5.
Like Arishem rising up from within the Earth, the hibernating Eternals fandom has been awoken from its slumber this Wednesday by a surprise reference to one of the team of immortal heroes in the latest episode of Ms. Marvel. Seeing as it’s all about Kamala Khan, the Avengers’ biggest fangirl, the Disney Plus show’s pilot was full of references to the wider MCU, and today’s episode two is no different. It even finds time to slip in a nod to one of the standout characters from Chloe Zhao’s Marvel debut.
(Minor) spoilers incoming!
When Kamala (Iman Vellani) is having coffee with her new beau Kamran (Rish Shah), the pair bond over their mutual love of Bollywood films. This includes chatting about one of the most legendary Bollywood stars in the Marvel universe, Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani). The duo compare the current Kingo to “Kingo Senior”, with Kamran teasing Kamala on her crush on the younger Kingo while his mom prefers his ‘dad.’ Of course, fans know they’re really the same person.
Seeing as Eternals is a mostly standalone entry in the MCU, and the team isn’t known to the world at large, we weren’t expecting a namedrop to one of the group in Ms. Marvel, so Eternals lovers are losing it on social media this morning over this shock Kingo-centric conversation.
Return of the King(o).
That was sneaky, Marvel.
Open your eyes, Kamala.
*Oscar Isaac screams intensify*
After this, we need Kamala and Kingo to actually meet.
The funny thing is that today also delivered the latest episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which saw Kumail Nanjiani return as Haja Elstree. So Kumail is owning Disney Plus right now.
“We love a successful man.”
Stream the first two episodes of Ms. Marvel on Disney Plus now.