Marvel’s Eternals movie could have introduced audiences to the MCU’s first big screen Japanese superhero, but Marvel Studios let this chance slip away. Kumail Nanjiani’s character in the MCU, Kingo, is actually Japanese in the comics, yet Eternals decided to race-swap him. Hulu’s Runaways series has Nico Minoru (Lyrica Okano), an actress of Japanese descent, but this character and her show are only loosely connected to the MCU and won’t be in any of the films or Disney+ shows.

Kingo Sunen is a minor character in Marvel Comics with an extremely limited number of appearances. His only important arc came in the Eternals limited series from the 1980s. Like Ikaris, Thena, and all the others, Kingo is a member of the cosmic-powered immortal race known as the Eternals, a group of people who have been sharing the Earth for thousands of years. During the 16th century, the Japanese Eternal learned the ways of the Samurai, and in the modern era, Kingo is a famous movie star who makes Samurai movies in Japan.  He also serves as the mentor of Ransak the Reject, a key Eternals character.

At SDCC 2019, Marvel announced the cast of Eternals, and among the characters confirmed to be in the movie is Kingo, except he won’t be played by a Japanese actor. Instead, he’ll be portrayed by Pakistani-American Kumail Nanjiani. Also, footage from Eternals shown at CCXP revealed that Kingo will keep his movie actor background, but he’ll be a Bollywood star, rather than an actor who plays leading roles in Samurai films.

If Marvel Studios had followed the comics, Kingo Sunen would have been the MCU’s very first Japanese superhero, another massive step in representation for Phase 4, which is already making an Asian hero the central protagonist in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, along with several other significant strides. Granted, the casting of Kumail Nanjiani is still good Asian representation, but it feels like a missed opportunity for Marvel to introduce a Japanese superhero, especially since the character was meant to be from Japan in the first place. A Japanese immortal with ties to the Samurai could have been a fun and diverse addition to Phase 4.

After all, there aren’t a lot of options for Marvel Studios when it comes to Japanese heroes. Marvel Comics has Sunfire and Armor from the pages of X-Men, and a few more obscure heroes. Kingo Sunen served as a rare chance for Marvel to put a Japanese hero on the big screen without having to change the race of an existing character. Unfortunately, they went in a different direction - but that doesn’t mean Nanjiani’s portrayal won’t be good in Eternals; it’ll just be different.

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