Eternals director Chloé Zhao "wanted everybody to put pieces of themselves into their characters," Kumail Nanjiani says

Chloé Zhao cast actors similar to their Eternals characters, Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Kingo in the movie, has said.

"I was like, 'Okay, so how do you see Kingo?' She was like, 'He's you. I picked you because I wanted him to be you,'" Nanjiani reflected as part of a Vulture profile on the director. "That's how she picked the entire cast. She wanted everybody to put pieces of themselves into their characters."

Eternals is still shrouded in mystery, but there are a few things we do know about the movie. It will focus on a group of ancient aliens living on Earth, and will introduce a new villain, The Deviants. Zhao has also hinted that she's considered how she can go "further and bigger" than Avengers: Endgame – a film which is already pretty epic in scale. 

The movie has got a massive cast, too, starring Angelina Jolie as Thena, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Nanjiani as Kingo, Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Ma Dong-seok as Gilgamesh, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Lauren Riddloff as Majjari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Haaz Sleiman as Phastos' husband, and Kit Harington as Dane Whitman.

Eternals will also have the first on screen LGBTQ+ kiss in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever, is the first Marvel film to be directed by an Asian woman, will include the MCU's first deaf superhero, and has a racially diverse cast. "You never see a movie with a cast that looks like the world this much, let alone big superheroes in a Marvel movie," Nanjiani commented.   

Eternals is set for release November 5, 2021. It's part of Marvel Phase 4, which also includes WandaVision, currently releasing a new episode every Friday on Disney Plus, and the upcoming The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.