Some things happen for a reason whether it be through coincidence, circumstance or fate, and Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani has experienced it firsthand after a surprising revelation made by writer Kaz Firpo on the My Mom’s Basement Podcast.
As it transpired, when the creative team behind Eternals inquired about getting Nanjiani on board, they were told that James Gunn had written a part specifically for him in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which would have seen him reunited with his Stuber co-star and good buddy Dave Bautista.
“Little fun fact, we literally basically pitched from like the jump. We were like, we love Kumail, we love everything he pretty much has done, specifically Silicon Valley and what he is up to. And we pitched to the producers right from the beginning, like it’s got to be Kumail. They were like: ‘It can’t be because he’s got a role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn like has already written him into it so he can’t do Eternals‘.”
Eternals was in early development right around the time Gunn was give his marching orders from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in July 2018, which stopped Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in its tracks, allowing Nanjiani to join another cosmic offshoot of the franchise instead.
Of course, by the time Gunn was rehired in March 2019, Eternals had tied most of its core ensemble down to contracts, and the part was forced to be either rewritten for somebody else or dropped entirely. One way or another, Kumail Nanjiani was getting his shot at playing a superhero, it just ended up happening in a completely different movie to the one he was originally being eyed for.