Marvel actor who called traditional masculinity 'a disease' reveals he went to therapy after critics trashed his movie

Marvel actor who called traditional masculinity 'a disease' reveals he went to therapy after critics trashed his movie



Actor Kumail Nanjiani, who starred in Marvel's "Eternals," revealed that following a year of transforming his physique to better suit a superhero role, he experienced "trauma" over his movie being poorly received by critics and audiences and needed therapy.

Nanjiani spent months on end in the gym to prepare for the big studio movie and allegedly put on 25 pounds of muscle for the role. The actor was even on the cover of Men's Health magazine.

"I found out a year ago I was going to be in Marvel’s Eternals and decided I wanted to transform how I looked,” he wrote on Instagram in 2019. "I would not have been able to do this if I didn’t have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world."

Despite this, Nanjiani stated in 2020 that he thought "traditional masculinity" was "a disease."

In a since-deleted post on X (then Twitter), Nanjiani responded to a post that asked "why did so many men stick with Trump in 2020? The COVID-19 pandemic may have given him a way to reach more masculine men. Many of those men actually liked Trump's 'shrug it off' approach."

Years later, the actor revealed to fellow star Michael Rosenbaum that he was still greatly affected by the negative reviews of his movie.

"Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals, and they sent us on a big global tour to promote the movie right as the embargo lifted," he said on "Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum."

He described the experience as "really, really hard," as he was "too aware" of the negative reviews and read "every" one of them. He also claimed that he began acting "unfair" to his wife.

"I started counseling," he revealed. "I still talk to my therapist about that. ... I do have trauma from it. We actually just got dinner with somebody else from that movie and we were like, ‘That was tough, wasn’t it?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, that was really tough.'"

"I realized I can't be so results-based in my in my work any more 'cause I can't really control it. I can control my experience, I can control how I am to the people around me, I can control what I learn from it, I can control how I work. I can't control what people are going to think of it," he added.

Marvel's "Eternals" was a film about immortal aliens who emerged from hiding after thousands of years, the Guardian explained. Nanjiani played the character Kingo, who was described by the outlet as a fame-loving hero who can create cosmic energy projectiles. The character became a Bollywood star as a means to blend in on Earth.

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We watched ‘The Marvels’ so you don't have to



If you didn’t already know, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going downhill, and the latest film, “The Marvels,” which was released on November 10, is only adding to the problem.

“I've seen roadside taco stands with better quality control than whatever the heck they've got going on over at Marvel right now,” says Lauren Chen.

People have waited over four years for the release of this film, as it’s the sequel to “Captain Marvel,” which came out in 2019.

Unfortunately, the anticipation and excitement leading up to “The Marvels'” release will likely be replaced with disappointment and frustration.

For starters, the movie is “all over the place,” says Lauren, adding that the confusing plotline “gave [her] a headache.”

Further, because science fiction/fantasy movies are exactly that – fiction – they don’t have to make sense scientifically, but they do have to make sense within the context of the film. Lauren points to the infinity stones from “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” There’s nothing scientifically sound about the concept of powerful space gemstones, and yet, the stones drove the plotline of the films and likely contributed to the fact that the movies are Marvel’s top two performers.

“The Marvels,” however, has the MCU’s lowest grossing film opening in history, perhaps because the fake science, which should have been “fun and ... cohesive,” was “some of the dumbest [Lauren has] ever seen.”

“I, still, while watching this baby-faced actress blast a hole in the sky creating a portal to another planet in order to suck out the other planets’ air, could not help but think to myself, ‘Wow, this is really dumb,”’ she sighs.

There’s also the issue of “emotional resonance” to consider.

Lauren recalls a moment in the film that should have been “a pretty heavy moment,” considering hundreds of civilian Skrulls were left to die on an uninhabitable planet, but despite the tragic circumstances, “the film moves on from that pretty quickly.”

“I mean there's literally just two minutes where it's kind of like, ‘Oh, sucks to suck,”’ says Lauren.

But that’s not the only scene that frivolously glosses over a tragedy.

There’s another point in the film when “basically you just watch a genocide unfold,” and yet “the characters [don’t] seem to give a crap that entire planets and populations [are] being just wiped out,” criticizes Lauren.

And somehow it gets even worse.

For example, in addition to the brushed-aside tragedies, there’s a poor attempt at comedy when some of the characters arrive on Aladna — the singing planet, where the language “is singing in English,” and the residents “don’t understand you” unless you sing, scoffs Lauren.

Suddenly, there’s “a 10 minute ... musical number,” featuring “Brie Larson not only singing but also magically changing outfits,” says Lauren, adding that the scene “felt like a throwaway episode of a daytime weekend TV show.”

There were other parts of the movie, too, that made Lauren realize “the writers could not give a flying F— about the film” like adorable kittens who eat scientists and throw them up later, a trio of “superheroes” who interact like “work colleagues,” and the fact that “there’s basically no men in the film.” But to get the full details on that, you’ll have to watch Lauren’s full review below.


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Disney already in 'damage control' mode before 'The Marvels' is released



If you’re tired of Marvel movies with woke plotlines and feminist leading ladies, then that’s too bad because there’s another one on the way.

“The Marvels” is gearing up for its 2023 release next week and will star Brie Larson as Captain Marvel.

While Lauren Chen isn’t a fan of the Marvel franchise and its stars, she admits that what she is “a huge fan of is schadenfreude.”

“You see the team behind Captain Marvel, including Brie Larson herself. They were really at the forefront of basically accusing everybody who doesn’t like one of their movies of being sexist or toxic,” Chen says.

Larson as Captain Marvel has not been a selling point for fans, and because of that, Disney has “been doing everything in their power to essentially play damage control for the character.”

The new film is predicted to have one of, if not the worst, box office grosses for the MCU ever. It’s been predicted that "The Marvels" will only gross between $50 million and $75 million in its domestic opening weekend.

It’s also been predicted that the film will bring in between $121 million and $189 million at the domestic box office.

“If this data is correct, I really can’t imagine a way that Disney does not lose money on this,” Chen says.

And apparently, not even Brie Larson is fully on board with being Captain Marvel anymore.

“There’s even been a report that claims that Brie Larson has grown disillusioned with the role of Captain Marvel and that she no longer wants to play the character anymore,” Chen says.


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Director of upcoming 'The Marvels' hints the film will FLOP – 'This just isn’t working'



In a day when DEI is prioritized over experience and talent, it’s no surprise that even big-budget movies are flopping left and right.

The upcoming "The Marvels" movie featuring Brie Larson is projected to follow the same abysmal trajectory as nearly all the preceding films with woke agendas.

Director Nia DaCosta’s work experience and even some of her own comments about the movie hint that the sequel will be a failure and that her role as director might be tied to DEI initiatives.

“Two months out from its premiere date, all of the cast and crew should be absolutely buzzing with excitement,” says Lauren Chen, “but instead for some reason we have headlines like this ... ‘Director Nia DaCosta Implies She’s Done With Marvel Studios Productions After "The Marvels."'"

The article reported, “In an interview with Vanity Fair, DaCosta complained throughout the interview about how stressful and demanding the production was for the film.”

“Sometimes you’d be in a scene and you’d be like, ‘What the hell does any of this s*** mean?’ ... There were obviously hard days, and days where you’re like, ‘This just isn’t working,”’ DaCosta told interviewers.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that this director was maybe taken out of her comfort zone with ‘The Marvels,’” says Lauren, “but it seems like … she was just ill-suited to the project to begin with.”

But Lauren isn’t really surprised by this.

“The MCU lately has been on this kick where they like to take directors who are really not familiar with big-budget, sci-fi action blockbusters and then give them Marvel movies,” she says, “and also if you ask me the reason why this is done is largely for diversity; they’re just like looking to get women or people of color behind the camera even if they’re not qualified for it.”

“When you prize things like skin color or gender over actual experience, then yes, you should expect to get people behind the camera that do feel overwhelmed,” says Lauren in reference to DaCosta’s comments.


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To enjoy more of Lauren’s pro-liberty, pro-logic and pro-market commentary on social and political issues, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.