As the Marvel Cinematic Universe exploded in popularity over the past fifteen years, Disney has increasingly incorporated Marvel’s iconic characters and famous actors for its theme parks.
In the last decade, we have seen Avengers Campus open at Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Paris, the Guardians of the Galaxy arrive at EPCOT, and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes take center stage on the Disney Cruise Line.
Marvel has become such a big part of Disney’s theme park plans that Robert Downey Jr. was on hand for Imagineering’s presentation at SXSW earlier this year.
Photo: Disney
While there are plenty of Marvel attractions for fans to look forward to, we now have insight into a project that never saw the light of day.
Kumail Nanjian’s Interesting ‘Eternals’ Revelation
During a recent interview on Mike Birbglia’s Working It Out podcast, Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani revealed that he initially signed on to star in a Disney Parks attraction.
Photo: Marvel
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be my job for the next 10 years,’” Nanjiani said of signing his Marvel contract. “I signed on for six movies. And I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride. They make you sign up for all this stuff. And you’re like, ‘This is the next 10 years of my life, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year and, in between, I’ll do my own little things, whatever I want to do.’ And then none of that happened.”
What Could Have Been
While Nanjiani’s comments seem to indicate that Marvel and Disney had big plans for the Eternals franchise, it was not to be.
(L-R): Ikaris (Richard Madden) and Sersi (Gemma Chan) in Marvel Studios’ ETERNALS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Released during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eternals received middling critical reviews and proved to be divisive among fans.
Needless to say, a theme park attraction never materialized.
Source: Marvel Studios’ ETERNALS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Nevertheless, Nanjiani’s comments provide a fascinating insight into Disney’s line of thinking. Had Eternals been a hit, it is possible that the film’s stars would not only have appeared in more movies, but an attraction based on the franchise would have been built.
Source: Marvel Studios
If nothing else, Nanjiani has shed light on a great Marvel “what if?”
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